Two guns found in suspect's house: Cops nab Reynes murder "lookout"

CEBU, Philippines – The police arrested one of the suspects in the killing of a former mayor of Compostela town in one of the mountain barangays of the municipality yesterday dawn.

Arrested was Dominador Viloria, Sr., 54 years old, who allegedly served as the lookout when Joselito 'Cocoy' Reynes was shot dead late Monday night in barangay Estaca of the northern town.

Operatives of the Regional Special Operations Group arrested Viloria inside his house in barangay Mulao and confiscated a caliber .357 magnum revolver with four live ammunition.

The RSOG team led by Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, was supposed to do a surveillance operation on Viloria, but made its move when the team members saw him carrying a gun outside of his residence.

The police said that Viloria apparently noticed that there were policemen in the area and went inside his house.The police went to the suspect's house and asked that they be allowed inside, which Viloria did not heed.

Santander said that they knocked and indentified themselves as policemen, but Viloria's wife, Lucia, who was also inside the house, instead shouted that they are not letting them in.

It was at this point that the police forced their way in.

"As to the door na gireklamo sa asawa nga naguba, amo g'yud giguba kay nagpaila na mi na pulis, pwede ba mi ninyo ablihan, nag-syagit-syagit na man hinuon ang iyang asawa," Santander told reporters.

The police official added that Viloria pointed a gun at them when they got inside the house resulting to a scuffle and the suspect was eventually disarmed.

Aside from Viloria and his wife, their nine-year-old son was also in the house when the arrest was made.

After the arrest, Dominador, Jr., the 23-year-old son of the suspect, arrived at their house from a drinking binge with friends.

He was also arrested when the police found a caliber .45 with five live ammunition in his possession.

Both firearms that were confiscated are unlicensed, said Santander.Surveillance was done on Viloria Sr. after at least four witnesses executed affidavits tagging him as the lookout.

Viloria, who used to work as the ambulance driver of the municipality during the term of former mayor Ritchie Wagas, was seen in the area when the attack took place.

The suspect's son, however, is not involved in the incident, Santander said.

The police official added that Viloria, Sr. also has records for hitting a person in a vehicular accident and for threatening some of his neighbors by pointing a gun at them.

Santander said that the police are now actively pursuing leads after they identified the gunman and are now doing a manhunt operation.

The police hope to identify the motorcycle driver soon and then the mastermind.He would not, however, conclude yet that the motive behind the attack is politics.

Santander also urged Lucia to take her complaints against the policemen to court.

The wife of the arrested suspect alleged that their home was ransacked during the arrest of Viloria, Sr.

In an interview at the detention cell, Viloria, Sr. vehemently denied any involvement in the incident. He said many can testify that he was near the municipal hall area watching television when the shooting happened.

He and his son also deny owning the guns that were confiscated by the police team.

Viloria, Sr., a motorcycle-for-hire driver, said he and his family were sleeping inside their house when police suddenly barged in.He also claimed to be a supporter of Wagas.

Viloria's legal counsel, Rex Fernandez, said he will file charges for violation of domicile, arbitrary detention, torture, and child abuse against the police next week.

Torture and child abuse are being included since Viloria, Jr. was blindfolded when he was taken from their house up to Cebu City and the incident was witnessed by the nine-year-old son, he said.

Right now, he said, he is working to secure writ of habeas corpus and writ of amparo for his clients.

Reynes was driving his car and stopped in front of a store when one of two men aboard a motorcycle went to the driver's side and opened fire.He died of three gunshot wounds.

Reynes was mayor of the town from 1980 to 1986 and served as councilor from 2001 to 2010.He was the campaign manager of Joel Quiño in the May polls.

Quiño has won the count, but hasn't been able to sit as mayor due to a protest filed by Wagas.

The town's acting mayor is Dir. Pedro Noval of the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Two police escorts have been detailed for Quiño, who also reported getting death threats.

He was with Reynes at a wake of one of their constituents last Monday before the killing. - /NLQ (THE FREEMAN)