CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Villanueva town police in Misamis Oriental has filed before the provincial prosecutors office today cases of multiple murders against the suspects in the brutal killings of four person in Barangay Imelda of the same town on July 10.
In a press statement, the PRO-10 said the charges were filed on the strength of one of the witnesses saying that the five suspects were on board an SUV that happened to be the same vehicle seen by residents at the place of the incident and was also corroborated by other witnesses.
“This is a good development of the case. Our investigation will not stop here until the suspects will be placed behind bars so that justice will be served,” said Brig. Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., PRO-10 regional director in a statement Wednesday, July 13.
In an interview, Lt. Col. Michelle Olaivar, the police regional spokesperson, said they could not yet divulge the names of the suspects until they are charged in court and warrants of arrest are issued against them.
The police identified the victims as Noel Bado, 26, male, taxi driver, from Barangay Hinaplanon, Iligan City; Joy-joy Canoy, 38, male, from Barangay Tawa-Tawan, Initao town, Misamis Oriental; and Marc Rounin Lacoto, 15, and his younger brother Miller, six years old, who were from Iligan.
Olaivar said that based on information they had gathered, the victims together with the mother of Lacoto brothers went to Initao town to collect the P100,000 debt due them on July 9 but upon arrival to the debtor’s residence, the victims were told to come back in the afternoon of that same day.
Following the agreement, the victims returned at around 5:00 p.m., this time, Lacoto’s mother did not come along.
At 7:00 in the evening, were able to contact their family informing them that the received P58,000 out of P100,000. After the call the victims could no longer be contacted which prompted the family to report the incident to the police.
The police learned that earlier that evening the Kia Picanto driver by Bado was burned along a barangay road in Barangay Naawan, Misamis Oriental.
The testimonies of witnesses and persons of interest indicate that the victims were forcibly taken and brought to Imelda by another vehicle where they were found dead in the morning of July 10. –Jigger Jerusalem/Newsline
