La Union residents called on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to immediately hunt down the leader and financier of an alleged assassination squad following the arrest of the group’s several members over the killing of a farm caretaker in Bacnotan town last week.
“Local residents are very nervous about what is happening in the province. We are afraid that the political killings in 2018 might happen again because of the continued presence of a gun-for-hire group in our province,” said Francisco Dacanay, a resident of the City of San Fernando.
PNP Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said several suspects linked to the group are now under the custody of La Union police. He said they were investigating of the suspects were really members of a gun-for-hire group.
“Patuloy ang imbestigasyon kung totoong assassination squad. Very good may mga nahuli na,” Eleazar said in an interview over radio station DWIZ.
Several ex-military and police personnel, who are believed to be members of the Magpali gun-for-hire group, were arrested on June 23, 2021, following the killing of Cristito Morate, a farm caretaker in Barangay Ballogo, Bacnotan, La Union on June 22, 2021.
The 49-year-old victim was shot dead over a right-of-way dispute with a member of the group. La Union police said the suspects reportedly shot the victim in the head and fled to San Juan town.
In a report by Bombo Radyo La Union, Police Major Gerardo Macaraeg Jr., chief of the San Juan Police Station, said several suspects were eventually arrested while trying to flee aboard a pickup truck following the discovery of their safe house in a resort.
The group were renting four rooms in Vilas Buenavista Hotel and Restaurant in Barangay Ili Sur, San Juan.
The suspects were identified as Alan Alegria (alias Major Allan Rashid Ortega), an enlisted and active member of Philippine Marines; dismissed Patrolman Rogie Ege; Jomar Magpali, brother of dismissed PCol. Winston Magpali; and Police Master Sgt. Adonis Bayan, a member of Revitalized-Pulis Sa Barangay. Ege is an AWOL member of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force and a security guard of World Cup Security Services assigned at Aureo Resort and Hotel.
The group’s safehouse is reportedly rented by dismissed PCol. Magpali at Vilas Buenavista Hotel and Restaurant, the PNP said. CCTV tracking helped the police track down the suspects.
Macaraeg said the suspects tried to flee aboard an orange pick-up truck from San Juan and were cornered at a checkpoint by authorities in Barangay Lingsat, San Fernando City.
Confiscated from the suspects’ vehicle were high-powered firearms, ammunition, bullet vests, two-way radios, cellphones, back packs, and other items.
PCol. Magpali is allegedly the handler of the group, the PNP said. Aside from renting the safe house, Magpali reportedly provided the different vehicles to the group, including the Ford pickup used by the suspects. Other vehicles maintained by the group were Honda CRV, Mitsubishi Pajero, Ford Everest, an orange sedan and an NMax motorcycle.
Authorities filed a murder case against the arrested suspects and for illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions.
Police said they will zero in on the mastermind of the crime and the real motive, adding that the vehicle used by the suspects was registered to a resident of Dagupan City, Pangasinan.
PCol. Magpali also has a standing warrant of arrest for estafa issued by a Baguio City court. Background and record check on the arrested suspects and other counterparts and intel monitoring on the whereabouts of PCol. Magpali is being conducted, according to La Union police.
Authorities are also monitoring different safe houses used by the suspects in Aringay, San Juan, Caba, and Naguilian. Other members of the group are still at large.
The killing of Morate is believed to be a side contract, as the group prepares for high-profile targets ahead of the election next year.
A lawyer from Sudipen, La Union came to the defense of the suspects just an hour after their arrest, PNP records showed.
A series of high-profile political killings occurred in the province in 2018. These included the unsolved killings of Balaoan Vice Mayor Alfred Concepcion on Nov. 14; Sudipen Mayor Alexander Buquing on Oct. 1; and former Second District Rep. Franny Eriguel on May 12.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former PNP chief, said in 2018 that the killings could indicate that some politicians were hiring armed groups ahead of the 2019 elections.
Residents of La Union are worried that the assassination squad may resurface again and hurt more victims ahead of the 2022 elections.