The killer of Vice-Governor Rommel Diasen has already been identified. Now comes the hard part: arresting the suspect and unmasking whoever might be behind him.
Two days after the killing of Diasen in Barangay Magnao on April 7, authorities broke the news that the suspect had been identified.
Diasen, an independent candidate for provincial governor was gunned down at high noon while delivering a speech at the Magnao barangay hall by a lone gunman. He was declared dead over an hour later as doctors vainly operated on him.
The suspect, Joel Melod, 18 and a resident of Magnao, is a Guilayon native and is believed to be a relative of Tabuk Mayor Camilo Lammawin Jr.
A high-ranking police official based here informed the Guru Press that Melod remains on the loose and might no longer be within Tabuk.
The officer said police and some members of the Guilayon tribe earlier spoke to the father of the suspect to arrange for the peaceful surrender of the suspect but the father informed the group that he did not know his son's whereabouts.
The source added that the father, himself, wanted to find out who gave his son the gun he allegedly used to kill Diasen, a native of the Maducayon tribe of Paracelis, Mt. Province but married to a daughter of the Guilayon tribe whose territory includes Magnao.
Initially, the theory was that Diasen's killing might have been connected with the murder of regionally trial court judge Milnar Lammawin, elder brother of Mayor Lammawin, sometime in August 2004. Diasen and former Tabuk mayor Basilio Wandag, whom the younger Lammawiri trounced in 2001, were then suspected of having masterminded the judge's killing.
Earlier, a relative of Diasen and Wandag, who served as Lammawin's driver, was killed allegedly by one of the mayor's security in the mayor's company while on their way back to Tabuk coming from Tuguegarao City. The dead driver's brother and two other relatives reportedly chanced upon die late judge parked in front of a bakery by the national road and fired upon him with an M-16 rifle.
A string of failures
Though Diasen's killing is considered solved by the police with the identification of Melod as the primary suspect, there will be a lot of unanswered questions until the alleged triggerman is arrested.
Kalinga police have a proven record in identifying suspects a poor reputation when it comes to getting them behind bars. To date, the judge's killers have yet to see the insides of a jail for their crime. No suspect in the massacre of Charlie Kadater and his parents-in-law, Salvador and Mercy Gonzalo, has been arrested so far. The same may be said of several high-profile killings in the province for the past three years and back.
A clouded picture
Despite the statement of police authorities, national media outfits tried to paint Diasen's killing as politically -motivated. Rep. Laurence Wacnang, Diasen's rival for the gubernatorial position, went on record to deny that he had anything to do with his rival's killings.
With Diasen dead, Wacnang's return to his old position was virtually paved for him as the third candidate is criticized for not having any serious intention of winning. Wacnang held the reins for the provincial capital from 1988-1998 before moving on to Congress for three successive terms. (This news article by Bani Asbucan appeared in Guru Press, April 16, 2007)
Two days after the killing of Diasen in Barangay Magnao on April 7, authorities broke the news that the suspect had been identified.
Diasen, an independent candidate for provincial governor was gunned down at high noon while delivering a speech at the Magnao barangay hall by a lone gunman. He was declared dead over an hour later as doctors vainly operated on him.
The suspect, Joel Melod, 18 and a resident of Magnao, is a Guilayon native and is believed to be a relative of Tabuk Mayor Camilo Lammawin Jr.
A high-ranking police official based here informed the Guru Press that Melod remains on the loose and might no longer be within Tabuk.
The officer said police and some members of the Guilayon tribe earlier spoke to the father of the suspect to arrange for the peaceful surrender of the suspect but the father informed the group that he did not know his son's whereabouts.
The source added that the father, himself, wanted to find out who gave his son the gun he allegedly used to kill Diasen, a native of the Maducayon tribe of Paracelis, Mt. Province but married to a daughter of the Guilayon tribe whose territory includes Magnao.
Initially, the theory was that Diasen's killing might have been connected with the murder of regionally trial court judge Milnar Lammawin, elder brother of Mayor Lammawin, sometime in August 2004. Diasen and former Tabuk mayor Basilio Wandag, whom the younger Lammawiri trounced in 2001, were then suspected of having masterminded the judge's killing.
Earlier, a relative of Diasen and Wandag, who served as Lammawin's driver, was killed allegedly by one of the mayor's security in the mayor's company while on their way back to Tabuk coming from Tuguegarao City. The dead driver's brother and two other relatives reportedly chanced upon die late judge parked in front of a bakery by the national road and fired upon him with an M-16 rifle.
A string of failures
Though Diasen's killing is considered solved by the police with the identification of Melod as the primary suspect, there will be a lot of unanswered questions until the alleged triggerman is arrested.
Kalinga police have a proven record in identifying suspects a poor reputation when it comes to getting them behind bars. To date, the judge's killers have yet to see the insides of a jail for their crime. No suspect in the massacre of Charlie Kadater and his parents-in-law, Salvador and Mercy Gonzalo, has been arrested so far. The same may be said of several high-profile killings in the province for the past three years and back.
A clouded picture
Despite the statement of police authorities, national media outfits tried to paint Diasen's killing as politically -motivated. Rep. Laurence Wacnang, Diasen's rival for the gubernatorial position, went on record to deny that he had anything to do with his rival's killings.
With Diasen dead, Wacnang's return to his old position was virtually paved for him as the third candidate is criticized for not having any serious intention of winning. Wacnang held the reins for the provincial capital from 1988-1998 before moving on to Congress for three successive terms. (This news article by Bani Asbucan appeared in Guru Press, April 16, 2007)
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