ILOILO City – More than a year after launching an investigation, the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) still needed more evidences and testimonies on the assassination of call center agent and drug surrenderer Alain Muller of Jaro district.
Muller, 42, was peppered with bullets outside his house by masked men in Barangay Cuartero on Jan. 19, 2020 – just minutes before businessman Delfin Britanico was also fatally shot in La Paz district.
Leads indicating the two incidents were related prompted the ICPO to reexamine Muller’s case. But there were no new developments, according to Police Colonel Eric Dampal, city police director.
“Sa ngayon wala pang developments. We are waiting for the Muller family to talk. Naghihintay kami ng kanilang response,” Dampal told Panay News.
The lead Dampal was referring to was the recent testimony of Police Corporal Joseph Andrew Joven, now a state witness in the Britanico slay case.
Joven claimed colleagues who killed Britanico were also the ones who shot Muller to death.
These policemen were recently relieved from their posts – Police Staff Sergeant Michael Demigillo de Felipe assigned at the La Paz police station; Police Staff Sergeant Freddie Libo-on of the Dumangas, Iloilo police station; Police Master Sergeant Vernie Lui Escorial of the Iloilo City Police Station (ICPO); and Police Staff Sergeant Ricardo Morante of Police Station 1.
De Felipe denied Joven’s claim, calling the latter a liar and a drug addict.
Joven was one of two policemen that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) initially charged with murder in theft in May last year for the death of Britanico.
In a sworn statement attached to his application to be a state witness filed with the Office of the Prosecutor General in the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Ermita, Manila on Dec. 15, 2020, Joven named two policemen whom he said were in the Mitsubishi Adventure he was driving and was used in the crime – de Felipe and Libo-on.
But according to Dampal, Joven’s claim that the four policemen were the same persons who killed Muller must be substantiated with testimonies and documents.
“Wala pa kaming mahanap na supporting documents. We are exerting our efforts to solve this case,” Dampal said.
The Jan. 19, 2020 successive killings – just minutes apart – of Britanico and Muller were initially thought as separate incidents. NBI, however, eventually said the cases may be related.
The first shooting (Muller) took place in Barangay Cuartero, Jaro a little past noon while the one in La Paz (Britanico) happened at around 12:30 p.m.
Muller was peppered with bullets outside his house by two masked men at around 12:05 p.m.
Muller was attacked just minutes after emerging from his house. He was brought to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao district where he died.
A week before Muelle’s shooting, policemen visited his house and tried to coax him into undergoing drug rehabilitation but he refused citing his tight work schedule.
In the case of Britanico, his family initially suspected that this was a business-related killing. It was also initially speculated that the shooting was a result of a traffic altercation.
He was taken to the Medicus Medical Center in Mandurriao district where he was declared dead./PN
