Ex-vice mayor, soldier, cop charged with judge's ambush

A former town vice mayor, an Army corporal and a policeman were slapped with charges of murder and attempted murder of Friday over the 2005 ambush of the late Judge Nathaniel Pattugalan, according to the National Bureau of Investigation. Patuggalan, who was then serving at the Baggao, Cagayan metropolitan trial court, survived an ambush in October 2005 but his driver, Alfredo dela Cruz was killed. The judge was transferred to Metro Manila following that attack. But in January this year, Patuggalan was shot dead by motorcycle-riding men in Quezon City. Pattugalan was the father of journalist Lee Ann Ducusin. NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said investigators have yet to establish if there is a link between the 2005 and 2007 attacks. Head Agent Arnel Dalumpines, chief of the NBI’s special task force (STF), identified the suspects as Loreto Alipio, reportedly a former vice mayor of Buguey, Cagayan; police officer 1 Jofel Alipio; and his brother Army Corporal Edgar Alipio. Jofel and Edgar are reportedly nephews of Loreto. The three were charged before the Department of Justice with murder for the death of dela Cruz of Barangay San Antonio, Quezon City and the attempted murder on Pattugalan. “Before the Jan. 19, 2007 (incident) which claimed the life of Judge Pattugalan, the judge managed to identify Cpl. Edgar Alipio through a photograph as one of the subjects who ambushed him and his driver at Baggao, Cagayan on Oct. 27, 2005," said Dalumpines. Judge Pattugalan sustained multiple bullet wounds during the October 27, 2005 ambush. Investigation conducted by NBI –STF, Judge Patuggalan was on board their vehicle being driven by dela Cuz when they were ambushed by two men on board a vehicle with plate number RBV 292, that resulted in the immediate death of dela Cruz. A verification made at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) revealed that the vehicle is registered to Loreto Alipio, a resident of Bgy. San Juan, Buguey, Cagayan. A witness, Joepher Castillo, identified Jofel and Edgar Alipio through photographs shown to him as the two men he saw shooting the vehicle of the judge in October, 2005 incident. Anastacia Pattugalan, wife of Judge Patuggalan, said it was premature to say if there was a link between the 2005 incident and the 2007 ambush. “We learned that the NBI probe is not yet over. They are determining if there was a link," said the widow in an interview. -GMANews.TV