Suspects charged as officials push anti-drugs drive

Elmo Relativo (left) and Raymond Albuera, suspects in the killing of a 15-year-old student in Argao town, wait outside the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s office during the filing of the murder case against them. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

PROVINCIAL officials yesterday called for an intensified campaign against illegal drugs, especially in the countryside, as police filed charges against  the three suspects in the killing of a 15-year-old girl in Argao town in southern Cebu.

Two of the suspects, 24-year-old Elmo Relativo and 22-year-old Raymond Albuera, were charged with the murder of Jezreel Tahanlangit Higida while Roweno Saraosos, 41, was charged for “abandoning a person in danger.”

Police filed the charges before the Cebu provincial prosecutor’s office at past 3 p.m. yesterday.  These will be filed before the Regional Trial Court in Argao today. No bail was recommended.

Relativo and Albuera, when presented before Prosecutor Richard Abangan, opted not to undergo a preliminary investigation which could have allowed them to refute the allegations.

Argao Police Deputy Chief SPO4 Esteban Albuera said Saraosos will stand as a witness against the two other accused.

Higida died from severe head injuries at about 6 a.m. on March 7. She was on her way to Bulasa National High School when she was killed.

Her body was discovered around noon on the same day. Autopsy results later showed she was not raped as police initially suspected.

Saraosos, one of the suspects in the killing, claimed they had a drinking session and took some illegal drugs  before Relativo and Albuera chanced on the girl and took turns hitting her head with a rock.

Relativo admitted to the crime while Albuera, a cousin of Higida, claimed innocence.

At the Capitol, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said “there should be no let up in the campaign against drugs.” He said he was saddened by Jezreel’s death and hoped for the speedy prosecution of the case.

The provincial government will extend financial assistance to the girl’s family, although the governor did not specify an amount.

Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and Provincial Board Member Christopher Baricuatro, in separate interviews, cited the need to strengthen the information campaign in schools throughout the province to discourage the youth from using illegal drugs.

Magpale, who co-chairs the Provincial Commission on the Welfare of Children (PCWC) and the Provincial Women’s Commission (PWC), said what happened to Higida was “cruel.”

She said PCWC will extend legal assistance to the family while her office was ready to provide financial assistance.

Baricuatro, who represents the 2nd district to which Argao belongs, said the incident was very alarming.

“Hopefully, this was an isolated incident. Argao is fairly peaceful,” he said in a text message.

In Argao, Mayor Edsel Galeos urged the townsfolk to join the cause against illegal drugs.

The girl’s father, Conrado, said he came home from a part-time carpentry job in Cebu City to the sight of his daughter wrapped in a white blanket.

Conrado lost his daughter just 10 months after he lost his wife, who died of kidney failure.

He hoped yesterday that justice will be served.

“Among paningkamutan nga dili na gyud sila makagawas sa prisohan hangtud sa ilang kamatayon (We will do our best to make sure that they will remain in prison until they die),” Conrado said.