CLARK FREEPORT — The Central Luzon police has created a “special investigation task group” to look into the murder last Monday of the chief engineer of the Clark International Airport (CRK) even as the airport’s president issued an “office memorandum” urging all airport personnel to cooperate with investigators.
Regional police director Chief Supt. Raul Petrasanta said he has instructed Tarlac police chief Senior Supt. Alex Sintin to head the task group amid blank wall faced by probers as of yesterday in the killing of engineer Ruel Angeles, 55, in Barangay Pada- Pada in Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac at 7 a.m. last Monday. Angeles’ wife Crusenia, 56, was reported out of danger in a local hospital.
Their four-year-old grandchild who was with them in their car was unhurt when the ambush occurred. Sintin said that as of yesterday, his task force still had to establish some lead into the killing, but noted that the suspects included one gunman who used a .45 pistol and his accomplice who drove off in a motorcycle.
Amid reported issues on the bidding of P250 million instrument landing system (ILS), an equipment under Angeles as engineering department chief at the Clark airport, Sintin also said his probers are looking into other angles, as there was also information that the victim was fond of cockfighting.
Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President-CEO Emigdio Tanjuatco III told Punto! he has issued an office memorandum telling all CIAC personnel to cooperate with police investigators on the killing. Personnel under Angeles at CIAC’s engineering department declined to be quoted, but described the victim in favorable terms. They said they were not aware of any threat to Angeles’ safety.
Tanjuatco referred queries on the bidding for the ILS to CIAC’s bids and awards committee headed by Darwin Cunanan, brother of former Technology Resource Center (TRC) Director- General Dennis Cunanan who was one among those charged for graft in the plunder case of Janet Lim Napoles.
Angeles is member of the bids and awards committee. Cunanan could not be reached as he was reportedly in the wake for Angeles in Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac. A new ILS normally costs P250 million, Tanjuatco noted. CIAC Executive Vice President Bienvenido Manga credited Angeles for the maintenance of the ILS which was first installed at the Clark airport in 1996 or 18 years ago.
He noted that ordinarily, ILS should be replaced every 10 to 15 years. In November last year, a firm called Evercon won the bidding for the ILS but the bids and awards committee declared only last September a failure of bidding based on technical grounds. Evercon filed a protest case and paid a “protest fee” worth P1.2 million.
Tanjuatco said that the CIAC board will meet this Thursday to tackle Evercon’s protest, among other issues. He declined to say whether the killing of Angeles could be job-related, noting that he assumed post only about a month ago.
