ROXAS City – Two out of three suspects in fatally shooting a village chief in Barangay Lawaan last April will face murder and attempted murder charges in court.
This was after the City Prosecutor’s Office found probable cause to indict Joey “Tata” Bacus and a John Doe in relation to Lawaan village chief Elvis Asis’ death.
Asis was gunned down while on board a motorcycle that Joselito Casela drove around 8 p.m. on April 27, a police report showed.
In its 10-page resolution dated Aug. 28 and made public last week, the City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the complaint against Rogelio “Nonoy Buaron” Buaron for “lack of probable cause.”
Asis’ wife Jocelyn, who was elected village chief of Lawaan after her husband’s death, and Casela have filed the murder and frustrated murder complaints against Bacus, Buaron and John Doe.
In his affidavit, Casela positively identified Bacus as the one who shot Asis using a .45-caliber pistol. Bacus denied this in his counter-affidavit.
Jocelyn, meanwhile, said Buaron had a hand in her husband’s death.
In her complaint, Jocelyn said Asis and Buaron were longtime friends. Buaron had recruited Asis in an illegal numbers game, she added.
But after Asis refused to engage in such, Buaron threatened to kill him, according to Jocelyn.
On April 23, Jocelyn said she overheard Asis and Buaron having an altercation over the phone.
“Indi nako sina boss sang illegal, diri na ako sa legal nga pamaagi,” her husband said, according to Jocelyn.
But the City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed Jocelyn’s statement, calling it “hearsay.”
Roxas City police head Superintendent Dante Tayco said they “respect the resolution” from the City Prosecutor’s Office.
“Kon amo ina ang appreciation sang mga prosecutors sa amon ginsumiter nga mga ebidensya, including the circumstantial evidence, ginarespeto namon ina,” Tayco added.
Panay News tried to reach Buaron for comment but was informed that he refused to give statement to the media./PN
