Suspect in slay attempt on congresswoman falls

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna — One of the suspects in the failed assassination attempt on Mindoro Occidental Rep. Josephine Sato last March was arrested by a combined military-police task force last April 29.

Roderick Tolentino, 32, alias Masong and Derek, was presented to the media here by Chief Superintendent Alejandro Lapinid, police director of Mimaropa (Marinduque, Mindoro, Romblon and Palawan), six days after he was arrested in Barangay Poblacion, Sta. Cruz, Mindoro Occidental.

Lapinid said Tolentino’s arrest followed a month-long surveillance since the slay attempt on Sato last March 3 in Barangay Alakaak, Sta. Cruz town. Sato was hit in the head but survived the attack.

The New People’s Army’s Lucio de Guzman Command claimed responsibility for the attack

Tolentino, who carried a P200,000 prize on his head, was positively identified by witnesses and two San Jose policemen assigned as Sato’s escorts at the time of the ambush.

Tolentino denied involvement in the ambush and his alleged link with the NPA, claiming that soldiers tortured him into confessing to the crime. — Rene Alviar, Arnell Ozaeta, Jaime Laude and Ed Amoroso