Mayor asks NBI probe of village chief’s slay

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    BACOLOR, Pampanga – The National Bureau of Investigation (BNI) is now conducting a parallel investigation into the ambush-slaying of Mesalipit Barangay Captain Rodrigo L. Tongol and his two aides Pedro S. Canlas and Merlito N. Pineda, both former barangay kagawads in the said village.

    This developed after Mayor Jomar Hizon requested a parallel investigation from the NBI after the police witnesses in the ambush-slaying pointed to an alleged “fall guy.”

    Hizon stressed that the suspect, identified as Alvin M. Sigua, could not have been positively identified by the witnesses since the attackers were reportedly wearing bonnets.

    Sigua was nabbed by the police based on the testimonies of two witnesses whom police said chanced upon the ambush-slay.

    Mabalacat chief of police, Supt. Ferdinand Perez, said Sigua was riding in-tandem behind the driver of the motorcycle who blocked the victims’ service vehicle while it slowed down to negotiate a road hump.

    He said only the driver of the motorcycle was wearing a motorcycle helmet. The ambush was perpetrated in Barangay Bundagul, Mabalacat City on August 3 while the victims were on their way home to the Madapdap Resettlement Center in the said city.

    Hizon said there were seven persons inside the yellow multi-cab service vehicle of Tongol during the ambush.
    Four survived the hail of bullets in the ambush including Tongol’s wife and their two children and his brother. The four survivors, who are vital witnesses in the ambush-slaying, contradicted the police’s version by saying that the suspects were wearing bonnets.

    The survivors said they ducked for cover as soon as they heard gunfire but managed to get a glimpse of the gunmen after the volley of gunfire subsided. “Maka bonnet la, tinas do pa kanu deng baril da (They wore bonnets, they even raised their guns),” Hizon earlier quoted the witnesses as saying.

    The mayor also said the suspect had no motive to kill his close supporter, Tongol, who scored a 10-0 victory for Hizon’s team in the May 13 polls.

    Hizon said Sigua’s father is his bodyguard whom he identified as Salvador “Dok” Sigua. He said the suspect’s own son is his ward whom he helped land a job at the Public Market here.

    Meanwhile, the police said cases of counts of murder and attempted murder  have been filed against Sigua.

    Even as Perez’s cellphone is disconnected.

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