The Department of Justice on Thursday said Daraga, Albay Mayor Carlwyn Baldo had been indicted for the killing of Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe in December last year.
Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon revealed that cases for counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder had been filed against Baldo and six others tagged in the killing before the Legazpi City regional trial court.
Fadullon, head of the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service, said the investigating prosecutors from Albay prosecutor’s office found probable cause in the charges against the mayor and other respondents.
Batocabe and his security escort, Senior Police Officer 1 Orlando Diaz, were shot dead by unidentified men in a remote village in Daraga last Dec. 22.
The 52-year-old lawmaker, who was running for mayor in his hometown in the polls in May next year, was about to board his vehicle after attending a gift-giving event for senior citizens in Barangay Burgos when two masked men approached and shot him and his aide at close range.
Both Batocabe and Diaz succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds while being treated at a local hospital.
The Philippine National Police filed the complaint after several persons involved in the slay surrendered to police and identified Baldo as the mastermind.
The other suspects tagged in the killing were Emmanuel Rosillo, Jaywin Babor, Danilo Muella, Henry Yuzon, Gilbert Concepcion, Agaton Concepcion, Christopher Cabrera Naval and Emmanuel Judavar.