MANILA — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed charges against three active police officers tagged in the killing of Quezon City Deputy Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Monday.
“The NBI solves murder case of QC Deputy City Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco. Files murder charges against three police officers with the Office of Quezon City Prosecutors (Office) (OCP-QC),” Guevarra told reporters.
In a press briefing on Monday, NBI Deputy Director Vicente De Guzman III said the bureau’s Death Investigation Division (DID) filed the charges last Sep. 4 before the OCP-QC against the policemen-suspects, who were identified as SPO2 Rodante Sicat Laimarmo, PO3 Arthur Yasonio Lucy and PO1 Jose Lunar Mercado, along with eight unidentified persons, including seven men and a woman.
The three cops are still at large, De Guzman said.
De Guzman said the motive behind the killing of Velasco was “work-related” but he refused to disclose further details.
DID Investigation Agent Ariel Ross Calub said investigators were able to identify the suspects with the help of witnesses, as well as footage of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the Quezon City Memorial Circle – which the NBI found as the suspects’ staging area.
He noted that they filed charges against the suspects based on the statement of witnesses.
Based on CCTV footage, the suspects entered the Quezon City Memorial Circle using a white Innova and a black Toyota Fortuner.
Calub said the suspects left the Quezon City Memorial Circle some 15 to 20 minutes prior the crime.
Last May 11, Velasco was killed in an ambush while on his way to pick up his wife from work.
He was driving his red Toyota Innova along Holy Spirit Drive in Barangay Holy Spirit when attacked by unidentified perpetrators.
A witness told police that a white Innova cut into the path of Velasco’s vehicle. Assailants shot the prosecutor several times before fleeing the scene. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
