GENERAL SANTOS CITY — It was late Saturday night of February 25, when Newsline Philippines personally brought a 15-year-old boy to General Santos City Police Precint No. 4 to turn-over the lost mobile phone of slain Dole Philippines Human Resource senior manager Christopher Cordova.
Cordova, 44, was killed inside his house in Block 8, Lot 16, Agan Grandville, Barangay City Heights, General Santos City, on February 25 but police believed he was killed on February 3.
The cctv footages showed a man who stands about 5’3″ meduim built and believed to be 17 year old, boarding a vehicle on the night of February 3.
The message:The suspect sent a message to Newsline on February 22, claiming he bought the mobile phone of Cordova from somebody in Lanao del Sur at P17,000 but he decided to return it because he cannot open the phone due to its Apple ID, he then asked Newsline to facilitate the surrender of the phone and asked some amount to cover his transportation from his province to General Santos City.
The young boy told Newsline he knew the killer and he is willing to cooperate in the police investigation to solve the crime.
He explained that he messaged newsline because he read about the report on Cordova’s death from a Faceboook post.
On February 25, at around 10:00 Newsline team met the young boy who was wearing a black hoody at a lobby of a hotel in General Santos City.
The Newsline team then coordinated with the investigator on case a certain Santiago who led us to Polic Precinct No. 4 here.
The child was attended by a lady police officer from the Women and Children’s Desk with Newsline reporter Editha Caduaya inside the office as he started to tell his stories and even wrote a note that he went their to voluntary surrender Cordova’s mobile phone.
There was inconsistencies in his statement and his hands started to shake while he was writing his personal details.
The truth revealed:
But at around 12:00 midnightt, February 26, Police Major Carl Jayson Baynosa, the station commander arrived and asked the boy to cooperate with the investigation and reveal the real killer of Cordova.
But as the talk between Maj. Baynosa and the boy progrssed, baynosa showed the boy a photo culled out from CCTV footages which reflected his face which surprised the boy.
At around 1:05 in the morning Sunday, February 26, the police officer then asked the boy to place the mobile phone on a plastic celloplane and asked everyone to leace them inside a glass investigation room.
At around 3:00 in the morning, the mother of the young boy arrived at the station upon our prodding, because they boy was alone with the police officer infrom of a body camera.
At aroung 3:10 in the morning, Baynosa granted us an interview and he revealed that the young boy admitted he was inside Cordova’s house when teh crime was committed and identified another person a certain Omar (not his real name) as the man who chooked CordoVa inside his rooom using the cord of the electric fan.”
Baynosa said the minor will stand as state witness to the case.
The progress report:
But on Sunday, Baynosa submitted to the PNP his second progress report which states : “At around 3:25 on the same date (february 26) The investigator together ith the station commander conducted an in-depth interview to the suspect (name withheld), he confessed that accordingly at about 9:40 PM of the February 3, 2023, he was fetched by Christopher Cordova,” and was brought to his house,
The same progress report stated “When they arrived to said place, he (the minor) choked the neck of the victim using his both hands, when he saw the victim unconscious, he cut the wire of electric fan using the knife under the bed and choked him again which resulted to untimely death of the victim.”
The progrees report also stated that the boy executed his Extra Judicial Confession and duly assisted by Atty. Bonifacio Doria in the presence of his mother and his stepfather and the WCDP of the police station.
The Mother’s version:
However, when Newsline asked the mother if she was there when the extra judicial confession was taken she denied her presence when the extra judicial confession was taken early morning of Sunday.
She revealed that on Sunday past 9:00 in the morning, when she brought food to her son, the police told her taht her son admitted the crime “Pero noong tinanong ko ang anak ko, sinabi nya
According to the mother, the police asked through a mobile on Sunday at around 3:00 in the afternoon to provide a counsel but she answered on the negative. “Ang abogado namin mam, gusto nila kumuha kami ng abogado, kay wala kaming mahanap na abogado, sila na naghanap ng abogado kahapon (Sunday) mga sobra alas 2:00 o alas 3:00 ng Hapon” (Our lawyer mam, they want that we get a lawyer, but we cannot find anyone, they look for a lawyer yesterday (Sunday) past 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.”
The child is now at Bahay Pag-asa a reformation centre for children in conflict with the law.
The mother is hoping that the truth will come out.-Editha Z. Caduaya
