Body of Ilagan mayor’s kin found

ILAGAN, Isabela – After three months of searching, the body of a relative of Ilagan Mayor Delfinito "Jojo" Albano was found in an isolated barangay here, wrapped in a plastic bag and buried in a hastily cemented tomb.

Albano, younger brother of Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Rodolfo Albano Jr., told The STAR that the remains of his cousin, Duque Calimag, 35, was retrieved on Saturday after an eye witness, whose name was withheld by the police for security reasons, pinpointed the place where the suspects buried the victim.

Police investigators said the witness recounted that Calimag, whose father is the brother of Albano’s mother, was snatched by the suspect on the eve of March 19 and was brought to Barangay San Vicente where he was brutally killed.

Initial police investigation showed that the victim’s death was caused by internal hemorrhage. A medico-legal team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Manila will be arriving today to conduct an autopsy.

Albano said investigators at the Ilagan police station are now preparing the criminal complaint against the suspect whom the mayor refused to identify.

"The evidence is strong against the suspect. This time he won’t escape the scourge of justice," said Albano.