ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines – Authorities have arrested the alleged gunman in the killing of a judge in Zamboanga City last month.
Mohammad Alkhalidz Paraji Amisali, 22, was arrested in an entrapment operation in Barangay Talon-Talon on Sunday, city police chief Senior Superintendent Angelito Casimiro said yesterday.
Amisali was identified by three witnesses as the one who shot and killed Judge Reynerio Estacio in Barangay Tugbungan on Feb. 28.
Estacio was with his wife in a sport utility vehicle when he was killed. The gunman spared his wife.
Amisali was arrested along with two others by members of the Zamboanga police Station 6, who were out on an anti-drug operation on Sunshine street.
“We received information that one of the suspects was the gunman in the murder of Estacio,†Casimiro said.
He said the arrest of Amisali came after a joint team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Central Police Office under the Special Task Group (STG), reviewed the cases handled by the slain judge.
Amisali was reportedly one of the 11 suspects arrested in October 2012 for a grenade-throwing incident. Three of the suspects, including Amisali, were released due to insufficient evidence, according to Casmiro.
He said on Feb. 27, one of the 11 suspects who remained in detention for the grenade-throwing incident decided to turn witness.
“The turning over of the suspect as witness triggered the Feb. 28 incident,†Casimiro said adding they have yet to determine the brains behind Estacio’s murder.
Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar described the arrest as a breakthrough in the Estacio case as she lauded the police, the NBI and the CIDG for pursuing the case.
The killing of Estacio occurred a day after a bill seeking to provide hazard pay to regional trial court judges was filed at the House of Representatives.
The bill, authored by Rep. Edcel Lagman, sought to provide judges with hazard pay equivalent to 25 percent of their monthly salary.
“I will be relentless in pursuing justice for judges who put their lives on the line in the call of duty. This hazard pay bill will not bring back to life dead judges, but it is a testament that Congress is serious in honoring them,†Lagman said.
The lawmaker expressed condolences with the Estacio family as soon as news of the judge’s death spread. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe