Witness: Baldo plotted to kill ex-mayor

Mayor Carlwyn Baldo of Daraga, Albay also planned to kill his predecessor, the late mayor Gerry Jaucian, before Baldo was tagged by the Philippine National Police as the mastermind of the killing of Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe in December.

This was according to Emmanuel Jaduvar, the PNP’s main witness to the slaying of Batocabe, investigators said Monday.

READ: PNP tags mayor in Batocabe slay

This developed as the authorities tried to figure out who would receive the P50-million reward for the capture of the gunmen that killed the lawmaker and his bodyguard before New Year’s Day.

Also, the results of the PNP Crime Laboratory’s ballistics exam showed that the bullet slugs and shells found at the crime scene matched the Norinco caliber .40 pistol registered under one of the suspects, Henry Yuson, police Director General Oscar Albayalde said in a press conference.

Chief Supt. Amado Corpuz of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said police were leaning on Jaduvar’s statement that Baldo had offered P350,000 “sometime in 2018” to have Jaucian assassinated.

The same people who gunned down Batocabe were involved, Corpuz said, but the plot against Jaucian fizzled out because the mayor “died of illness sometime in 2018.”

Jaucian passed away on May 4, 2018 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 70, and his death allowed Baldo, Daraga’s vice mayor at the time, to assume the mayoralty.

READ: Batocabe slay: 2 more suspects surrender

Police have filed double murder and six counts of frustrated murder charges against Baldo and his supposed accomplices. The mayor has denied the allegations he wanted Batocabe, a looming rival for mayor in this year’s May elections, snuffed out, saying he was being made “a convenient scapegoat.”

Meanwhile, Albayalde said 11 caliber .50 shells and five slugs matched Yuson’s licensed firearms, which he said was used at the Batocabe crime scene, according to the crime lab findings.

“That will now boost our case,” the PNP chief said.

In his affidavit, Yuson admitted to using his own licensed gun when the caliber .45 pistol his group bought for the killing jammed.

PNP records showed, the registration of Yuson’s Norinco caliber .40 has been expired since 2015, UNTV News reported.

READ: Gunman owns up to Batocabe slay

Yuson also admitted in his affidavit that after gunning down Batocabe, he shot at the lawmaker’s police escort, Senior Police Officer 1 Orlando Diaz. He also sustained gunshot wounds to his arm and his side, as somebody from the lawmaker’s group exchanged fire with them, but Yuson couldn’t verify who.

Authorities previously said a former security aide of Baldo participated in planning the killing, but backed out and later gave vital information to investigators.

PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Benigno Durana Jr. said investigators will look into who should get the reward money “at the right time” and in coordination with the lawmakers and local officials who raised the bounty.

Police are currently focused on gathering physical evidence to bolster the gunmen’s claim against Baldo, Durana told radio DZMM.

Only one of the six gunmen has yet to sign his extrajudicial confession as of early Monday, he said. With Francisco Tuyay

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