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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Friday, March 24, 2017
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ILOILO City – A 14-year-old boy was one of the two suspects in the killing of the assistant principal of Cabatuan National Comprehensive High School. He was arrested early yesterday by Maasin, Iloilo policemen.
Hours after, around 4 p.m., the other suspect was caught, too – 20-year-old Rey Velasco of Barangay Tigbauan, Maasin.
The boy and Velasco were seen with victim Dante Roldan on the night of March 21 leaving Barangay Poblacion, Cabatuan, Iloilo in a motorcycle, said Senior Superintendent Harold Tuzon, Iloilo police provincial director.
Roldan, 59, was found dead early morning of March 22 in a secluded, grassy area of a sugarcane plantation in Barangay Naslo, Maasin, Iloilo.
After the 14-year-old boy was arrested, Tuzon expressed confidence that the police “can solve this case.”
The boy could be made a state witness.
The Maasin police station took custody of the teenager and Velasco.
Operatives of the Police Regional Office 6’s Regional Intelligence Division arrested Velasco in the suspect’s house.
A few meters away from the house, the police recovered two mobile phones that belonged to Roldan.
According to Police Officer 3 Elmer Lenteja, investigator of the Maasin police station, Velasco admitted hitting Roldan on the head with stones because the assistant principal did not give him money.
“Aside from robbery, police investigators are exploring other possible motives in the crime,” said Tuzon. He, however, did not elaborate.
Velasco worked at a furniture shop in Maasin.
Around 8 p.m. on March 21 Roldan was at JN Pantatan Kandingan, an eatery in Barangay Poblacion, Cabatuan but later transferred to the plaza.
Past 10 p.m., he, the 14-year-old boy and Velasco were seen boarding a motorcycle.
Velasco was the one driving the motorcycle.
The assistant high school principal died of severe head injuries.
Policemen found three big stones with bloodstains a few meters away from Roldan’s body.
The crime appeared to be unplanned, said the police director.
Only stones were used on Roldan; the suspects did not have knives or guns, he said.
Four witnesses came forward and volunteered information on Wednesday after learning of Roldan’s death. They claimed to have seen two persons tailing the assistant school principal on the night of March 21 from the eatery to the plaza in Cabatuan./PN
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