Quezon town mayor’s son slay: 3 cops convicted

MANILA, Philippines —Three policemen tagged in the killing of the son of Mayor Marcelo Gayeta of Sariaya, Quezon and his companion have been found guilty of double murder.

Former Tayabas police chief Col. Mark Joseph Laygo, Cpl. Lonald Sumalpong and Pat. Robert Legaspi were sentenced to two life imprisonments.

Lucena City Regional Trial Court Branch 53 Judge Dennis Orendain issued the ruling yesterday.

The counsel of the relatives of the victims, Crisanto Buela, said the former policemen attended the promulgation of the case through videoconference.

Gayeta’s son Christian and Christopher Manalo were killed in an alleged shootout with police who responded to reports of indiscriminate firing at a gasoline station in Barangay Baguio in Tayabas in March 2019.

However, the National Bureau of Investigation said its probe showed that there was no shootout. Christian and Manalo were in police custody when they were killed, the NBI said.

Gayeta said their family is grateful for the decision, noting that they have long waited for it.

He said they would remain vigilant to ensure that the killers of his son would spend the rest of their lives in prison.

While the decision will no longer bring back his son, Gayeta said many lives were saved because the abuse committed by the convicted policemen ended.

The camp of the former policemen said they would exhaust all legal options to reverse the ruling. – Emmanuel Tupas