Maguan brod to disprove Bilibid kidnap raps

MANILA, Philippines - A brother of a De La Salle University student killed by Rolito Go in 1991 is set to contest charges linking him to the convict’s alleged kidnapping from the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in August 2012.

The camp of Eliot Maguan vowed to disprove the claim made by one of two arrested suspects during the preliminary investigation hearing at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Dec. 17, 2012.

Eliot is not expected to attend the hearing at the DOJ tomorrow since he has not yet received the subpoena and corresponding charges, according to his lawyer, Jose Flaminiano.

The lawyer denied the charges against Eliot, saying he believes they are a fabrication by Go’s camp.

“It is so fictitious it escapes logic. It has no sense and no logic because the convicted murderer failed to file any complaint or charges against my client, Eliot, since the very beginning and up to now.  The alleged kidnapping hurled and thrown against Elliot are all fabricated,” Flaminiano said in a statement over the weekend.

“What will be the motive, reason and purpose of the Maguan family to kidnap a murderer? They were the ones who sent him to jail, then they would kidnap him?” he added.

Eliot is a younger brother of Eldon Maguan, who was shot dead by Go in 1991 after a traffic altercation in Greenhills, San Juan.

Go’s lawyer, Claire Castro, said Armando Mondero identified Eliot through a photo as the person who allegedly dealt directly with engineer Emilio Ortiz, the kidnapping’s reported financier.

Mondero, who surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last month, said he recalled Ortiz talking to a certain “Magbuan.” Days after, he said he saw Eliot when they met with Ortiz to plan the alleged abduction.

A sketch of “Magbuan,” prepared by the NBI based on Mondero’s description, was submitted to the fiscal during the hearing.

Castro clarified that it was neither Go nor his family who tagged Eliot in the kidnapping.

Montero is applying to become a state witness in the case. The other suspect, Jerry Duenas, also attended the hearing. He was arrested in connection with a separate car theft case.

Ortiz and seven other respondents remain at large.