CEBU, Philippines — Jocelyn Mendoza, the common-law wife of the late Ermita barangay captain Felicisimo "Imok" Rupinta, who was killed in an ambush in Liloan, Cebu, has asked the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor's Office to voluntarily inhibit from handling the complaints of murder and attempted murder.
Through lawyer Salvador Solima, Mendoza, last week, filed the said motion where she also sent copies to the Regional State Prosecutor's Office and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
"That in the highest interest of justice, private complainant humbly and sincerely request that all provincial prosecutors to voluntarily inhibit themselves from handling the above-entitled case considering that the respondent as admitted by him was a former City Hall employee and is under the control of the Office of the City Mayor," read the motion.
Solima said Mendoza wants the complaints of murder and attempted murder which are pending before the provincial prosecutor's office against former market administrator Winifredo Miro be handled by the DOJ.
In her affidavit, Mendoza alleged Miro and others "might have orchestrated the assassination of Rupinta taking into consideration the long standing feud between Miro and Rupinta for the control and dominance of the vendors association and other sources of income (at the) Carbon Public Market in Barangay Ermita."
Rupinta, 63, and Mendoza, 43, were onboard an Isuzu D-Max pick-up with plate number YGB 554 when they were ambushed last November 23, 2017 at 7:55 p.m. at Sitio Simborio, Barangay Yati, Liloan.
Aside from Miro, Jimmy Largo and Jordan Gera, accused in the alleged killing of Rupinta and the attempt to kill Mendoza, were already charged before the court in Mandaue City.
In his affidavit, Rolando Pacres, 41, a resident of San Fernando, Cebu, alleged that sometime in August 2017, Largo asked him if he is still willing to work as a hired killer for P150,000.
He and Largo knew each other because they were classmates way back in high school.
During their talk with Largo, the latter mentioned it was Miro who allegedly hired them to kill Rupinta. —GAN (FREEMAN)