MANILA — A Quezon City policeman was placed under restrictive custody for his alleged involvement in the killing of Quezon City Deputy Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco.
“The QCPD (Quezon City Police District) policeman identified as PO3 Arthur Lucy, who is among the three suspects implicated in the Velasco murder case, will be ordered under restrictive custody pending the filing of appropriate administrative case for Grave Misconduct,” the QCPD said in a statement Tuesday.
The QCPD immediately activated Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Velasco, which conducted a parallel investigation with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), until the recent filing of charges against the suspects.
On Monday, NBI Deputy Director Vicente de Guzman III said the bureau’s Death Investigation Division (DID) filed murder charges last Sept. 4 before the Office of Quezon City Prosecutors (OCP-QC) against the policemen-suspects, who were identified as Lucy, SPO2 Rodante Sicat Laimarmo, and PO1 Jose Lunar Mercado, along with eight unidentified persons, including seven men and a woman.
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 to the crime.
Meanwhile, the QCPD continuously provides security to the family of Prosecutor Velasco since his ambush to ensure their safety.
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)
