AROROY, MASBATE – The National Bureau of Investigation in Bicol charged Vice-Mayor Enrico Capinig for the crime of murder after allegedly masterminding the gory killing of his political rival who was working out a recall election protest against him.

This is the gist of the investigation report by the NBI Regional Office in Bicol regarding the controversial July 24 brutal slaying of Rolly Bueno y Españo, a vice mayoral bet who lost to Capinig in the May 2004 local polls here. Bicol Mail sources said the election was marred by fraud and controversy.

NBI Acting Regional Director Lauro C. Reyes said Capinig’s name surfaced after one of the plotters of the killing voluntarily turned himself over to the NBI probers and yielded vital information that point to Capinig and a certain Urbano Ragasa as prime suspects.

Along with Vice-Mayor Capinig, the NBI linked 5 other suspects namely: Urbano Ragasa, Julios Ragasa, Christopher Ragasa, Oscar de la Cruz and Ramon Cristobal y Arace. All suspects except Cristobal are living in Barangay San Isidro, Aroroy, Masbate.

Reyes said the confession of Ramon Cristobal y Arace of Barangay Tagbon, Milagros, Masbate, has fortified the circumstantial evidence they built as it provided strong points against Capinig’s participation to the crime after the NBI confirmed his motive to stop the recall election protest being worked out by the victim.

Through Cristobal’s statement, NBI investigators were able also to establish the participation of Capinig as the financier of the group tasked to plot and carry out the killing, including the money to be paid once the slaying has already been accomplished.

The testimony of Cristobal whom the NBI recommended as the case’s state witness greatly helped in the solution of the bloody killing of Bueno. Cristobal allegedly participated in the commission of the crime as lookout for the evading killers.

How the NBI chanced upon its facts:
At about 9 o’clock in the morning of June 24, this year, victim Rolly Bueno y Españo left his house in Barangay Talib, Aroroy, Masbate. He went to the residence of a certain Tilong Basulgan to show his recall election protest against Capinig.

Barely 2 hours later, Bueno was found dead at Sitio Lumboy in Barangay Talib. According to the NBI post mortem report, the victim died of multiple gunshot wounds on his chest and head and suffered traumatic incised wound in his neck.

In the course of the investigation by NBI agents, a certain Ramon Cristobal surfaced and confessed about the killing of Bueno. His admission revealed that on June 23, a day before the killing, he (Cristobal) together with 4 other suspects except the vice-mayor and a John Doe gathered in a makeshift house of Urbano Ragasa in Barangay San Isidro, Aroroy, Masbate. The gathering was called by Urbano Ragasa in order to organize the team that would plot and kill Bueno in an ambush site in Barangay Talib on the following day. The team agreed and moved out right after the meeting at 8 o’clock P.M. towards Barangay Talib where they were going to kill the victim.

Cristobal was armed by Urbano with .45 caliber pistol and a magazine with 7 bullets and was promised with P50,000 as reward or payment for killing the victim.

The NBI probers said the group was on a stake out in the early morning of June 24 at Barangay Talib where they met a man who served as the group’s guide and was tasked to give them a signal should the target person was about to reach the “ambush site”.

NBI reports said Urbano Ragasa immediately fired his M16 Armalite rifle upon the victim and his son Julios hacked the victim in his neck to death.

Elder Ragasa seized an envelop from victim Bueno, waved this to the air and expressed a victory by saying: Hindi na kamo sine kalibot! (Now you should have never circulated this!) apparently referring to the documents whom Bueno and his political supporters are circulating. NBI Director Reyes said the documents seemed to be the petition by the residents for a recall election protest.

After the killing, Reyes said, the group had separated ways upon the instruction of Urbano Ragasa but informed them to regroup again in his makeshift residence in Barangay San Isidro the following morning for the P50,000 payment and to return the .45 caliber handgun.

Cristobal obeyed Urbano’s instructions and that on the following morning of June 25 he met him in his house to return the gun supposedly used to kill Bueno but no payment of P50,000 happened. This angered Cristobal, according to Reyes, whom he said went home empty-handed.