Mayor Carlwyn Baldo welcomes subpoena for Rodel Batocabe murder

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines  —   Mayor Carlwyn Baldo of Daraga, Albay, the accused mastermind in the murders of Ako Bicol party-list congressman Rodel Batocabe and his bodyguard last Dec. 22, welcomed the subpoena issued against him by the provincial prosecutor, saying it would allow him to give his side and file a counter-affidavit to refute the allegations.

Baldo has described as a positive development the subpoena he received from the Albay Prosecutor’s Office, ordering the submission of counter-affidavits and other documents on the double murder and multiple frustrated murder complaints filed against him and other suspects.

“We long to see this (subpoena) as a good update so that the investigation would now start at the right venues,” Baldo’s spokesman Eugene Sangil told The STAR yesterday.

Batocabe and his bodyguard Senior Police Officer 1 Orlando Diaz were shot dead by armed men as they were boarding a vehicle after a gift-giving activity for senior citizens in Barangay Burgos in Daraga last Dec. 22.

Seven people were also injured in the shooting, six of whom suffered gunshot wounds.

Police recovered in Pili, Camarines Sur yesterday parts of a firearm believed to have been used by one of the gunmen in the killing of Batocabe.

Chief Supt. Arnel Escobal, Bicol police director, said parts of the .45 caliber pistol used by alleged gunman Rolando Arimado were recovered in the septic tank of a house in Barangay Santo Niño in Pili town.

The house is owned by Emmanuel Rosello, the alleged driver of one of the getaway motorcycles used by the suspects in Batocabe’s murder.

The parts consist of one slider, one barrel, two magazines, a stabilizer, one slide stop, one barrel bushing and one stabilizer guide.

Sangil said that personnel of the provincial prosecutor’s office served the subpoena to Baldo’s family last Wednesday.

“The mayor is really waiting for the notice coming from the fiscal because he really wanted his side to be heard in the right venue,” Sangil explained.

As standard procedure, subjects of complaint are given by the law up to 10 days to submit counter affidavits.

“The mayor’s legal team has already prepared documents that are anticipated to be needed once a subpoena is handed to them,” the spokesman added.

Baldo has been regularly reporting to his office, as he makes good his promise that it is “business as usual” in his jurisdiction despite the controversies.

Meanwhile, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) removed the other day Baldo’s authority to supervise the local police force. 

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said yesterday that Baldo was not at his residence when the subpoena was served.

Albayalde said the mayor has not left the country. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued an immigration lookout order against Baldo and the other suspects in the double murder.

Supt. Dennis Balla, officer-in-charge of the Daraga police, was also relieved from his post the same day Baldo’s deputation was removed.

Balla was replaced by Rodelon Betita, who was previously assigned at the Albay Public Mobile Force Company in Ligao City.

The major breakthrough in the case came when Baldo’s former associate Emmanuel Judavar surfaced and divulged the plot to kill Batocabe, one of the mayor’s projected opponents in the local elections in May.

Judavar told probers that he was part of the plan but backed out sometime in October because of a personal conflict with Baldo. This was corroborated by the mayor’s aide Christopher Naval, who revealed that the plan to assassinate Batocabe was hatched sometime in August 2018 when the lawmaker announced his bid for the mayoral post of Daraga.

Baldo allegedly offered P5 million for the hit the following month and gave a downpayment of P250,000 for the purchase of guns and motorcycles. - With Emmanuel Tupas