(MISA/IFEX) – The police recently arrested one of two primary suspects in the 16 May 2006 killing of tabloid reporter Albert Orsolino. Ramon Rivera, a Navotas jail guard who was absent from his post without official leave, was arrested by the police intelligence under a warrant of arrest issued by a Malabon City regional trial […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The police recently arrested one of two primary suspects in the 16 May 2006 killing of tabloid reporter Albert Orsolino.
Ramon Rivera, a Navotas jail guard who was absent from his post without official leave, was arrested by the police intelligence under a warrant of arrest issued by a Malabon City regional trial court, according to Northern Police District (NPD) Chief Leopoldo Bataoil.
A witness, who asked not to be identified, tipped off Rivera when he spotted the fugitive in Quezon City.
Records showed Rivera is wanted in a pending homicide case with five other jail guards over the mauling and clubbing to death of an inmate in December 2004 inside the Navotas municipal jail.
A witness in the Orsolino case identified Rivera as one of the assailants positioned at the gas station where the reporter was gunned down on the morning of 16 May.
Meanwhile, Philippines National Police (PNP) Director Gen. Oscar Calderon had announced on 7 August that an arrest had been made of the alleged hitman in the killing of Orsolino’s cousin and photojournalist Prudencio Melendres, which occurred in Malabon City on 31 July.
Roberto Lopez, a 36-year-old plumber and resident of Caloocan City, was arrested by the NPD and Malabon City Police, based on information provided by witnesses in the Melendres killing.
“The murder of tabloid photographer Prudencio Melendres is the second case of high-profile murder that we were able to solve within the 10-week timetable given by President Arroyo,” Calderon said.
Melendres, a photojournalist working for the tabloids “Tanod” and “Dyaryo ng Bayan”, was gunned down by four unidentified men while on his way to work in Gozon Compound, Tonsuya Village, Malabon City, in the early hours of 31 July.
According to Bataoil, Lopez was positively identified by several witnesses when he was presented in a police line-up.
Lopez is a cousin of a certain Antonio Lopez, whose name reportedly appeared in a letter dated 14 June that Melendres gave to his wife for safekeeping prior to his death.
The letter, addressed to Bataoil, Senior Supt. Moises Guevarra, and the Malabon City police station chief, was handed to the victim’s wife shortly after his cousin, Norberto Orsolino, was laid to rest.
The letter allegedly indicated that there was a personal grudge between the Lopezes and the victim and that he was seeking police protection.
While the letter gave the investigators a lead on the murder case, Bataoil said the series of dialogues that they conducted with the community where Melendres stayed convinced witnesses to come out and cooperate with police authorities as part of their civic duty.
“The early solution of the Melendres case . . . manifests the keen resolve of the PNP not only to comply with the orders of the president but to serve the ends of justice to all victims of heinous crime, particularly working journalists and members of cause-oriented groups and party-list organizations,” Calderon said.
Earlier, Bataoil confirmed it was “highly probable” that the killings (Orsolino’s and Melendres’s) were related. Relatives said that after Orsolino was killed, Melendres replaced him as president of the Letre Urban People Homeowners’ Association. Both Orsolino and Melendres were also members of the CAMANAVA (Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela) Press Corps. Melendres had been helping residents in the area to acquire the land on which they previously had been considered illegal settlers, reported the Inquirer News Service.
