Court okays issuance of arrest warrants vs. Cam, cohorts
THE Manila Regional Trial Court has approved the issuance of arrest warrants against Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) director, Sandra Cam, her son, Marco Martin, and five of their accomplices over the broad daylight assassination in Manila of Batuan, Masbate, vice mayor, Charlie Yuson III, two years ago.
(See also Pinoy Exposé article of April 19, 2021).
Aside from the Cams, also included in the charge sheet were: Nelson Reformoso Cambaya, Batuan councilor who also briefly served as town mayor; Junel Reyes “Bunso” Gomez; Bradford Fuerte Solis; Juanito Bustamante de Luna; and, Rigor Magallanes Dela Cruz, the suspected gunmen who carried out the attack on Yuson that happened at an eatery along Vicente Cruz St., Sampaloc, Manila, around 8:40 am, on October 9, 2019.
In two separate orders dated April 26, 2021, Manila RTC Branch 42 presiding judge, Hon. Judge Dinnah C. Aguila-Topacio, set a bail of P200,000 for each of the accused for the group’s failed killing of Alberto ‘Pao-pao’ Alforte IV, Yuson’s companion at the time of the incident.
However, in the other order, no bail was recommended for the suspects for the killing of Yuson, whose family is the bitter political rival of the Cams in Masbate local politics.
“The court after examining the information, the resolution of the Department of Justice Panel of Prosecutors, the complaint-affidavit and other supporting documents thereto, finds probable cause to issue a warrant for the arrest of the above-accused,” reads part of the order of Judge Topacio.
With the court’s order, a formal warrant of arrest is expected to be issued anytime now.
The suspected attackers were apprehended by the Manila Police District (MPD)– by chance– several minutes after the incident while trying to make good their escape on board a silver-gray Nissan van (ACM 8804) along Quirino Avenue in Manila.
The van was flagged down for a traffic violation by elements of the MPD’s Station 5. In the course of inspection, the police found several firearms inside the van, prompting them to bring the suspects to their headquarters for further investigation.
As the attack on Yuson is already all over the news, other policemen investigating the case managed to link the van and its occupants to the incident based on testimonies from witnesses who managed to write down the van’s plate number. Its ownership was later on traced to Cambaya.
When brought to the MPD’s main headquarters along UN Avenue, several witnesses again stepped forward and positively identified them as the gunmen who attacked and killed Yuson.
It can be recalled that last April 16, 2021, the special panel of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Prosecutor General Benedicto A. Malcontento, finally released its 21-page report that recommended for the filing of murder and frustrated murder against the group of Cam, based on the investigation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
In conclusion, the DOJ resolution said that the guilt of Cam and her accomplices, based on the testimonies for or against them, can only be determined “in a full-blown trial.”
The DOJ added that, “considered on its entirety, the statements and evidence presented by the complainants are sufficient to establish probable cause for the conspiracy among all the respondents in the killing of Vice Mayor Charlie and the wounding of Alberto Alforte IV.”
The family of Yuson sought the intervention of the DOJ and the NBI in the case as they distrusted the MPD, then under, P/BGen. Vicente Danao, to conduct an impartial investigation and give justice to the victims.
Heeding the request, justice secretary, Menardo Guevarra, then formed a special panel to probe the incident.
The investigation proper was handled by the NBI’s Special Investigation Service under deputy director, Atty. Vicente de Guzman III and the NBI’s Death Investigation Division (DID) thru Agent Zulikha Marie Conales-Degamo.
