ALMOST A MONTH AFTER KILLING
ALTHOUGH no suspect has been arrested yet, the family of slain lawyer and Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab of Ronda town, southwest Cebu, remains optimistic that justice will soon be served.
Ungab’s nephew Jed, the spokesperson of the family, said they understood the predicaments of the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in trying to unmask the persons behind the crime.
“We understand how delicate and sensitive the case is. The perpetrators were wearing masks. People are afraid to come forward and testify. Despite these, we trust the NBI and the police that they will do their part,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.
Jed said they were grateful that a woman who claimed to have witnessed the killing of Ungab came out to relay what she saw.
However, he said the police have to first validate the woman’s claims to determine whether or not she can be of help to the case.
“As to the credibility of the witness, it’s up to the PNP to calibrate the facts because they were the ones to whom the witness came forward to. We leave it to them,” Jed said.
On reports that one of the suspects in the slay of Ungab was killed in a police operation in Lapu-Lapu City last February 22, Jed said they hoped that the information is wrong.
“We’re hoping that the one who was killed was not the same gunman (who killed my uncle) because we’re not out for blood but we’re bent on seeking justice within the legally permissible means,” he said.
Jed called on other witnesses to come forward and help investigators in identifying the perpetrators.
Ungab was driving his car along the Port Service Road in front of the Cebu City Hall of Justice on Feb. 19 when an assailant shot him twice on the head.
Police investigators believed three other persons — the driver of the get-away motorcycle and two spotters who spied on Ungab while the latter was inside the courthouse — were involved in the killing.
Man killed in Lapu is one of the suspects?
Senior Insp. Jonathan Taneo, chief of Homicide Section of Cebu City Police Office and spokesperson for Task Force Ungab, said they are looking into reports that a man who was shot dead in a police operation in Lapu-Lapu City may have been one of the culprits in the slay of Ungab.
He said they will submit the man’s red sweatshirt and .45 caliber firearm to the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory for forensic examination to determine whether or not they matched the evidence gathered in the crime scene.
Taneo, however, refused to reveal the identity of the person while the investigation continues.
But based on news reports, the person killed in Lapu-Lapu City last February 22 was identified as Dante Betaganzo who was also accused of killing a policeman in Bohol.
Betaganzo was killed when he allegedly resisted arrest and tried to shoot it out with the police who were about to serve a warrant of arrest for robbery against him last Feb. 22.