4 suspects in Oberes slay charged with murder

POLICE investigators on Monday filed a murder complaint against four more suspects in the gruesome slay of Philippine Air Force Staff Sergeant Mark Herbert Oberes.

Primary suspect Edna Cabañog, Tomas Isugan and two unidentified men, all of whom remain at large, will undergo preliminary investigation at the Talisay City Prosecutor’s Office.

As part of the process, they will be given the chance to file their counter-affidavit and refute the allegations hurled against them.

Last Friday, the Talisay City Police Office also filed a murder complaint against Cabañog’s 20-year-old daughter Resamie, the latter’s boyfriend Joshua Garciano.

Resamie and Garciano were arrested by the police an hour after the body of Oberes was found inside a burning vehicle in Sitio Tal-ut, Barangay Valencia, Carcar City on Wednesday evening.

The two suspects, who are detained at the Talisay City Police Office stockade, opted to undergo a preliminary investigation for them to answer the accusations hurled against them.

Garciano, in an earlier interview, admitted that he drove the vehicle that transported the then wounded Oberes from Talisay City to Carcar City where the victim was burned together with his car.

He pointed at Cabañog as the mastermind behind Oberes’ killing.

Garciano, 22, expressed his willingness to turn into a state witness.

But Oberes’ wife Diana, in her affidavit submitted to the prosecutor’s office, said her husband had received death threats from Garciano and Cabañog before the incident.

“He (Oberes) had mentioned about previous death threat(s) from Joshua Garciano and Edna (Cabañog). Looking back, I remember clearly that before the death of my husband, he told me that he received death threats from Joshua Garciano. In fact, he showed me the text messages from Joshua Garciano’s number,” she said.

Garciano is the boyfriend of Resamie, who claimed she used to be the girlfriend of Oberes.

On the run

Supt. Reyman Tolentin, information officer of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said they were monitoring the whereabouts of Cabañog, Isugan, and the two other suspects who remain free.

“Based on the reports we received, they are moving from one place to another in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental,” he said.

Tolentin appealed to local officials in Guihulngan City to immediately report to the police in case they know the whereabouts of the suspects.

“Accordingly, Tomas (Isugan) has links to the National People’s Army (NPA). We are conducting an investigation to find out whether or not Edna is also a part of the NPA. As of now, we cannot confirm,” he said.

Supt. Marlo Conag, chief of the Talisay City Police Station, said they were coordinating with their counterparts in Negros Oriental to track down the suspects.

Cabañog, he said, had sent surrender feelers shortly after her name cropped up in the investigation.

However, Cabañog has yet to fulfill her promise to surrender.

The motive

Oberes, 37, was mauled and shot by a group of persons in one of the driveways of Corazon Village in Barangay San Isidro, Talisay City before his body was transported to and burned in Carcar City at around 9 p.m. last Wednesday.

With the help of informants, police subsequently arrested Resamie and Garciano during a follow up operation.

Oberes’ body was identified by his family through his car, necklace, and part of the vehicle’s receipt which was partly burned.

Based on the investigation of the police, Oberes, who is married, had an illicit relationship with Resamie for some time.

When Resamie decided to broke up with Oberes, the victim allegedly threatened to post their sex acts on social media.

Resamie’s mother learned about it and allegedly hatched a plan to kill Oberes, the police said.