Customs cop faces murder raps

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last Monday apprehended a Bureau of Customs (BOC) policeman who allegedly murdered a president of a homeowners’ association in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan province.

NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said Jose Elmer Velarde, 39, of Sacred Heart Village in Caloocan City was apprehended at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Port Area, Manila.

He was accused of killing lawyer Leonito Tapel, who was the president of the Diamond Crest Village’s homeowner’s association.

“This is the continuation of a case because his arrest was a result of a warrant of arrest issued by a Bulacan court. We just served the warrant,” Mantaring said.

Malolos City Regional Trial Court Branch 10 Judge Victoria Villalon-Pornillos issued the warrant of arrest against Velarde.

Case officer Special Investigator Danilo Salcedo of the NBI-Special Action Unit (SAU) said their initial investigation showed that Velarde’s friend of five years, Customs broker Jesse Domingo, was allegedly interested in Tapel’s position in their subdivision.

 “Domingo reportedly has ambitions of becoming a homeowners’ president but Tapel is very influential in their area. He even has plans of becoming city mayor, but he could not even win a barangay elections,” Salcedo said.

It appeared that at around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 2 last year, Tapel was on his way home after watching a basketball game. He was driving his Isuzu Crosswind inside the village when an unidentified person approached the vehicle and shot him several times. He died on the spot.

Mary Frances Talastas, a resident in the area, and Mylene Ecat, Tapel’s household helper, said they saw Velarde fleeing from the crime scene.

NBI-SAU Assistant Regional Director Vicente de Guzman III said “the witnesses are those from the crime scene and they positively identified the suspect. But it appeared that he is not a hired killer and had been with the BOC for the past.”

Velarde is currently detained at the NBI, which has filed murder charges against him.