Activists identify intel officer

Four human rights activists have positively identified an Army intelligence officer as one of those allegedly behind the abduction-killing of their two colleagues in Oriental Mindoro last April 21.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) would use the positive identification by the four witnesses of M/Sgt. Donald Caigas, intelligence officer of the Army’s 204th Infantry Brigade, as basis for filing kidnapping with murder charges against him.

Aside from Caigas, three others — Aniano Flores, alias Silver; Richard Palla and a certain Egay — will also be charged with the Department of Justice for the murder of Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy on April 21.

Witnesses Marvin Jocson, Virgilio Catoy II, Christine de la Cruz and Mark Suba identified Caigas from pictures shown to them by DOJ and NBI officials at the NBI headquarters in Manila.

Agents of the NBI’s Special Operations Group arrested Caigas at Fort Bonifacio last Tuesday on the strength of a warrant for robbery, which Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Jaime Salazar issued against him way back in 1996.

Caigas has denied any involvement in the robbery and in the mauling of a barangay chairman, which investigators believe, was linked to the killings of Marcellana and Gumanoy.

Marcellana and Gumanoy were killed after they investigated alleged human rights abuses by military officers in Barangay Tambong in Gloria, Oriental Mindoro.

In the absence of formal charges against him, Caigas was released from NBI custody on Wednesday after posting P12,000 bail for the robbery case.