Police, Sasing family insist Taytayan is the culprit

Taytayan

PO1 MAE SASING AMBUSH-SLAY CASE

“There is no fall guy.”

This was the response of Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), on claims by a ship captain and crew members that murder suspect Felix Taytayan was with them when PO1 Mae Sasing was gunned down.

“We don’t practice that strategy in solving crimes. We have a strong case against him (Taytayan),” he told reporters yesterday.

Sasing, 31, was heading home to Barangay Jugan in Consolacion town on board her motorcycle on October 31 when waylaid by two men riding in tandem on another motorcycle at around 7 p.m. in Barangay Basak, Mandaue City.

At least three witnesses have executed sworn statements identifying Taytayan as the motorcycle’s backrider who fired several shots at Sasing. A murder complaint was filed by the police against Taytayan at the Mandaue City Prosecutor’s Office last Monday.

When presented before Mandaue City Assistant Prosecutor Henry Pascua, Taytayan opted to undergo a preliminary investigation, which allowed him to file a counter-affidavit and refute the charges. The prosecutor has 15 days to resolve the case.

“We already filed a case against him. It’s now up to the prosecutor or the court to decide on it,” Espino said.

“We have reasons to believe that he is really the primary suspect. We have the witnesses and evidence,” he added.

The police are looking for more evidence to bolster the case which Espino said was already strong enough to prove Taytayan’s guilt.

The Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), on the other hand, has started looking for CCTV cameras in the port area of Cebu City that might have captured Taytayan to also prove that he left the pier during the time when Sasing was ambushed and killed, contrary to the claim of the captain and crew of MV Gemini 10, a cargo vessel, that he was with them since morning until the vessel left the port at 11 p.m. of October 31.

Credible witness

Chief Insp. Oscar Boyles, the chief of MCPO’s Investigation and Detection Management Branch (IDMB), said they have a strong case against Taytayan.

“kadtong among witness sa Lapu-Lapu (City) nga nakakita g’yud niya (Taytayan) nga ingon og duna’y gihuwat dili layo sa police headquarters, consistent kaayo tanan sa iyang gisulti namo ug during sa inquest proceedings,” said Boyles.

(Our witness from Lapu-Lapu City who really saw him (Taytayan) as though he was waiting for somebody not far from the police headquarters was very consistent with the information that he gave to us during the inquest proceedings.)

Boyles said they were still looking for the driver of the motorcycle, whom they believed is still in Cebu province.

The video footages of the CCTVs at the crime scene were still being enhanced and once its done, they would hopefully allow police to get a clearer look at the faces of the assailants and the marks on the motorcycle used by the suspects.

Chief Insp. Michael Angelo Beltran, the chief of MCPO’s Police Station 3 in Barangay Jagubiao where Taytayan is detained, was visited by the owner of the cargo vessel where he was working as an apprentice.

Rudy Chan Lim came at around 9 a.m. but only talked briefly with Taytayan, Beltran said.

Taytayan said Lim came to assure him of the latter’s help.

Convinced

PO2 Ryan Diamada, a brother-in-law of PO1 Sasing who is designated to speak for the Sasing family, said they are convinced it was Taytayan, the slain policewoman’s college boyfriend, who killed his sister-in-law.

He said “Maymay” (PO1 Sasing) once confided to him and his wife about Taytayan’s desire to win her back but Maymay rebuffed Taytayan as she and her live-in partner were planning to get married this coming December. PO1 Sasing and her partner have a seven-year-old daughter.

PO1 Sasing’s elder sister Jeraline, a teacher, expressed her dismay on Facebook, as she refuted false claims that PO1 Sasing and Taytayan had been living together for ten years.

In a text message, she said Taytayan had kept on bothering her sister through calls and text messages and she was convinced that Taytayan was the perpetrator.