Police welcome P200T reward

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine National Police welcomes the P200,000 financial reward offered by Pio V. Corpuz Mayor Hermenigildo Betonio for the informant who can point the whereabouts of the gunman who killed his lover, Crisanta Lauro.

However, they have to be cautious as there would be people who will try to give false information and are only interested to get the reward.

Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Mariano Natu-el Jr., admitted that giving financial reward will encourage witnesses to appear although it also has a disadvantage.

“Sometimes naa ni disadvantage like giving of wrong information nga naka-create ug doubt on the person giving the reward,” Natu-el said.

Natu-el said their office is always open to possible tipsters and witnesses but they will have to thoroughly verify all given information.

For his part, Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 Director Marcelo Garbo Jr. welcomes the plan to meet with Betonio to discuss the attack on his lover and sister, Lenny Eser.

 â€œWe are considering a lot of angles and we are to meet with Betonio to talk about it,” Garbo said.

Police now have a new facial composite or cartographic sketch of the gunman based on the description given by Eser.

Aljon Ala, 32, of Basak, San Nicolas, was released by the Cebu City Intelligence Branch after Eser declared he was not the gunman.

Ala went to the CIB Saturday to clear his name after his features matched with the description of the gunman.

Lauro succumbed to gunshot wounds in the head and chest while Eser was hit in the palm after they were shot by unidentified men on board a motorcycle while in a taxi that stopped for the red light at corner of Vicente Sotto St. and Sergio Osmeña Boulevard.

Both were rushed to the Chong Hua Hospital but Lauro, two months pregnant, was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

Natu-el was convinced that Lauro was the subject of the attack as Eser who was near the assailants was spared.

Former mayor of Placer, Surigao del Norte, Charry Mangacop, Lauro’s ex-husband, vowed to pursue the case if the assailants will be arrested. — (FREEMAN)