Air Force member’s charred body found inside his burnt car off a hilly area in Carcar City
Air Force member’s charred body found inside his burnt car off a hilly area in Carcar City.
Mark Herbert Oberes, a staff sergeant of the Philippine Air Force, had been active on social media until he went silent on Wednesday.
His charred body was found inside a burning car which was hanging on the bushes in the hilly portion of Sitio Tal-ut, Barangay Valencia, Carcar City, at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
Police investigation revealed that Oberes, 37, was mauled and shot by a group of persons in one of the driveways in Corazon Village, Barangay San Isidro, Talisay City, before his body was transported to and burned in Carcar City.
Police subsequently arrested Oberes’ ex-girlfriend Resamie Cabañog, who resides in Talisay City, and the latter’s boyfriend Joshua Garciano.
Cabañog’s mother Edna, a certain Tomas Isugan and two unidentified men remain at large.
Edna has been tagged by the police as the primary suspect behind Oberes’ slay.
“The way we look at it, the crime has something to do with a love triangle, a spat on social media and personal enmity,” said Supt. Marlo Conag, chief of the Talisay City Police Station, in an interview.
Oberes’ body was charred almost to the bone and will be autopsied at the St. Francis Memorial Homes in Cebu City.
His wife and parents immediately went to the crime scene to identify Oberes’ car, necklace and the partly burnt receipt of the vehicle.
Oberes’ father Solomon begged off from issuing any statement to the media.
“Complicated pa kaayo ang sitwasyon. (The situation is still very complicated),” he said.
Mark Herbert Oberes
Confession
Police are set to file complaints of arson and murder against Cabañog and Garciano at the prosecutor’s office today.
Garciano, 22, an engineer, said he was willing to cooperate with the police in the investigation.
“Promise, mosulti ko sa tanan nga nahitabo. Isulti nako ang tanan. Motug-an ko. (Promise, I will reveal everything that happened. I will reveal everything),” he told reporters in a brief interview at the Talisay City Police Station.
Garciano said it was he who drove Oberes’ Suzuki Ertiga when the victim was transported from Talisay City to Carcar City.
Although Oberes was shot thrice in Talisay City, he said the victim was still alive when they brought him to Carcar City.
Aside from Garciano, on board the vehicle were the victim, Edna and two men.
Garciano said Edna and one of the men stabbed Oberes several times using a bladed weapon while they were on their way to Carcar City.
“Ako sila giingnan nga ‘Husto na. Husto na na.’ (Please stop it. Stop what you’re doing),” he said.
When they arrived in the mountain barangay of Valencia in Carcar City, one of the suspects set the vehicle on fire together with Oberes inside, then pushed the vehicle to the ravine.
Thick bushes, however, prevented the vehicle from falling deep into the ravine.
Another vehicle, a Nissan Almera owned by Garciano, accompanied the group to Carcar City. Inside the Nissan Almera were Isugan and Cabañog.
Garciano admitted courting Cabañog but said they were not officially into a relationship yet.
Threats
But interviewed separately, Cabañog, 20, said she and Garciano are lovers.
She said Oberes threatened to kill them after she decided to end her relationship with the victim who was married to another woman with whom he had two children.
“Gihulga mi ni Mark nga iya ming patyon. Naglagot na siya ni Joshua. Dili siya gusto nga magbuwag mi. (Mark Oberes threatened to kill us. He was angry at Joshua (Garciano). Mark didn’t want me to end our relationship),” she said.
Cabañog begged off from issuing further statements to the media.
Police investigation revealed that Oberes had threatened to post their alleged sex acts with Cabañog on social media if the latter would not go back to him.
Cabañog’s mother Edna purportedly went furious and decided to hatch a plan to kill Oberes.
Investigators have yet to determine why Oberes went to Talisay City last Wednesday.
“May malaking galit talaga sa pagpatay ng victim kasi bakit pa nila dinala sa ibang lugar para patayin at sunugin na pwede naman nilang patayin lang dito (Talisay) (The persons behind the killing must have been very angry at the victim because why would they transport him to another place to kill and burn him. They could have killed the victim here in Talisay),” Conag said.
Investigation
Insp. Inar Vic Florece, deputy chief of the Talisay City Police Station and lead investigator, said they received a shooting alarm on Wednesday evening inside Corazon Village in Barangay San Isidro, Talisay City.
The police immediately went to the place and recovered empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol, a slipper and a shovel.
Investigators, however, could not find the suspects or the body of the victim.
Fortunately, Florece said they received information about the identity of one of those involved in the shooting incident.
At past 10 p.m., after they got the contact number of Garciano, Florece said they immediately called him.
“He answered the phone and then we invited him so he could shed light on what happened. He agreed to meet us at his residence in Minglanilla,” Florece said.
While on their way inside Deca Homes subdivision where Garciano lives, Florece said they met the suspect who was driving his Nissan Almera.
With Garciano was his mother and Cabañog.
With Garciano’s permission, Florece said the policemen inspected the Nissan Almera.
To their surprise, the police found inside Garciano’s vehicle a slipper which matched the other slipper they found at the crime scene in Talisay City.
“We could not say that it was the victim’s slippers. But it just so happened, that the slipper inside Garciano’s car exactly matched the other slipper we recovered at the crime scene,” Florece said.
He said they immediately brought Garciano and Cabañog to the Talisay City Police Station for further investigation.
The police, however, released Garciano’s mother after finding out that she had nothing to do with the crime.
Investigators are now hunting for Cabañog’s mother, Edna, who, according to their investigation, allegedly masterminded the killing of Oberes.
“We’re conducting further investigation (to gather more evidence and testimonies of witnesses),” Florece said. /with reports from Benjie B. Talisic