Wife of slain Caloocan councilman pleased with arrest of suspect

The wife of the slain Caloocan City barangay (village) councilman was pleased with the recent arrest of her husband's alleged shooter, a television report said Friday. "Lumuluwang po yung pakiramdam tsaka masayang-masaya po kami kasama ng aking pamilya dahil nabigyan po ng hustisya ang pagkamatay ng asawa ko (My family and I are very pleased and happy that the death of my husband will finally be given justice)," Arlene Dagsa said in a report aired over QTV's Balitanghali. Arlene's councilman husband Reynaldo Dagsa was killed last New Year's Day while he was taking photos of his family. He accidentally photographed the gunman taking aim at him with a cal.-45 handgun. On Thursday, police arrested Arnel Buenaflor, the alleged gunman who was photographed by the victim. "Sana mabulok na siya sa bilangguan at pagbabayaran niya yung ginawa niya sa asawa ko dahil hindi lang naman ang asawa ko napatay niya, sabi marami na siyang napatay, pang-apat na raw ang asawa ko (I hope he rots in jail. I hope he pays for what he did to my husband because from what I hear, my husband was not the only one he killed, it seems my husband is already the fourth victim)," said Arlene.

Chief Supt. Francisco Villaroman, PNP Cagayan Valley regional director, asks Arnel Buenaflor to re-enact how he shot Caloocan councilman Reynaldo Dagsa. Buenaflor was arrested in Ilagan, Isabela on Friday. Inset photo shows the suspect as captured on the victim's camera. GMANews.TV

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Earlier reports said Buenaflor and at least four suspects – Michael Rullon, Frederick Sales, Rommel Oliva, and Francis Bronjal – were charged with murder for the crime. Police believe the suspects had a run-in with Dagsa, a witness in another criminal case. But a relative of Buenaflor who only wanted to be identified as "Inday," claimed that the suspect himself was shot by Reynaldo last October 31. "Pagkalabas niya ng ospital, hindi na inuwian ng asawa, nagtago na siya sa amin (When he got out of the hospital, he didn't come home to his wife. He just hid at our place)," she said during the same television report. This, said Buenaflor's relative, probably gave the suspect motive to go after the councilman. "Siguro nga may paghihiganti siya sa sarili niya na hindi natin alam sa isa't-isa kung ano ang nasa kalooban niya (We all don't know what he was thinking, but he probably had revenge in mind)," she said.
Reynaldo's wife, however, denied the accusation because her husband had supposedly told her that no such thing happened. "Alam niya kung kailangan niya bumaril o hindi pero daw po siya nagpapaputok (He knows when he has to shoot someone but he said he never fired his gun)," she said. Meanwhile, Arlene said her kids will miss their father because he used to bring and fetch them from school. "Namimiss din po nila kasi wala na raw ho silang ama (They miss him because they don't have a father anymore)," she said. She noted, however, that she can't dwell on what happened even if she wanted to. "Tuloy pa rin po ang buhay dahil alang-alang po sa aking dalawa kong anak. Kahit po masakit kailangan ko po magpakatatag (Life has to go on, at least for my two children. Even if it hurts, I have to be strong for them)," she said. The report said that Reynaldo's remains will be buried on Sunday at the Eternal Gardens in Quezon City. — RSJ, GMANews.TV