A police officer accused of being the gunman in the killing of Dumaguete City radio broadcaster and block timer Mercedario “Dindo” Generoso surrendered to authorities, an official said Friday.
Patrolman Roger Rubio, one of the four alleged suspects in Generoso’s murder, was presented to reporters in Malacañang.
READ: Charges filed vs. murder suspects
But Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, chief of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, said the alleged involvement of policemen in Generoso’s murder was “an isolated case.”
He said he had asked the Presidential Task Force on Media Security to treat Rubio with “utmost dignity” while the case was ongoing.
Rubio, a 55, allegedly gunned down Generoso, 67, on Nov. 7 while Generoso was on his way to his radio program “Bai Radio” in Piapi village.
“This case is actually very isolated, De Leon told reporters.
Presidential Task Force on Media Security co-chairman and Undersecretary Joel Egco said Rubio, an active patrolman of the Negros Oriental Provincial Mobile Force Company, was the subject of a manhunt.
Egco said Rubio turned himself in before Lt. Col. Judi Mar Bonilla, the commanding officer of the Negros Oriental Provincial Mobile Force Company, around 6 p.m. on Nov. 13.
“This morning, we’re pleased to announce that Rubio is now in government custody,” Egco told reporters.
Generoso was killed while driving his Hyundai Elentra and passing Piapi village in Dumaguete City.
Rubio was said to have been aboard a Mitsubishi pick-up truck driven by a certain Teddy Salaw, and then transferred to a waiting motorcycle driven by former police Corporal Glenn Corsame to gun down Generoso.
Tomasino Aledro, the alleged owner of the pick-up truck, has been included in the Bureau of Immigration’s look-out list.
Corsame and Salaw were arrested on the same day Generoso was killed, while Aledro is still on the loose.
On Nov. 8, murder charges were filed against Rubio, Corsame, Salaw, and Aledro.
Lt. Col. Wilfredo Alarcon, officer-in-charge of the Dumaguete City Police Station, said Rubio was identified as the gunman based on the exchange of text messages from Salaw’s cellphone.
“When we inspected the cellphone, we found the conversation between Teddy Salaw and a contact person named Roger Rubio from the PNP,” said Alarcon, who joined Egco at the press conference.
He added there was no conversation as to who was the target.
“There’s no immediate conversation regarding the killing, but it was based on the text messages that said, ‘I’m on my way. Let’s meet in this area. We’re here,’” he added.
Generoso was an anchor for the development programs of the local government, including a controversial reclamation project that was recently stopped by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Egco said the motive for Generoso’s killing could be either “work-related or politics or both.” With MJ Blancaflor