MoHolY / SrlrruonR 2, 2019
WWW.INQUIRER.NET
Slain solon's kin to bfock
GX-Albay mayoPs rclease
Ixga4lt Court allorri suspectd&,mastetmind in Batocabe slay to post bail
By Michael B. Jaucian
@InquirerSLB
LEGAZPI CITY-For the mem-
bers of the family of slain Ako
Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe, the
possible temporary freedom of
former Mayor Carlwyn Baldo
of Daraga, Albay, would be "like
a death sentence" to them and
witnesses to the December.
zorS murder.
Baldo, the alleged master-
mind in the gun attack that
killed Batocabe and his security
escort last year, was allowed to
post bail by the Regional Trial
Court Branch ro in Legazpi City
on Friday. The court has set a
bail amount of P3 million for
each of the ntro counts of mur'
der Baldo is facing or a total of
P6 million.
Batocabe was running
against Baldo in the Daraga
mayoral race when he was
killed during a gift-giving ac-
: tMtI in the town on Dec. zz last
..
year. Also slain in that gun at-
tack was Batocabe's security
I aide, Police Senior Master
Sergeant Orlando Diaz.
Unacceptable
Baldo had denied involve-
ment in the murder of Bato-
cabe, saying he was being
blamed because he was a "con-
venient scapegoat."
Batocabe's widow, Gertru-
des, joined the May 13 mayoral
race to challenge Baldo's re-
election bid. However, Qer-
SEEKING JUSTICE Gertrudes Batocabe (left), widow of Ako
Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe, and her son, Justin, say they will not
stop until the family gets justice. -pHorosByMARKALVtcEsILANA
Carlwyn Baldo
trudes and Baldo lost to Vice
MayorVictor Perete.
Lawyer Justin Batocabe, son
of the slain lawmaker, on Sun-
day said Baldo's impending
temporary release was "unac-
ceptable" to his family.
-\ FAgrJ- AP
Justin said his family
would ask the court to recon-
sider its decision. "I hope the
judge's mind would change
[so] Baldo [would stay] behind
bars," he said.
"We are very sad, very de-
pressed. at this decision. Of
cours€; we are very afraid that
the mastermind of my father's
murder wilt be out and about,"
justin said.
He said he not only feared
for his family's safety but also
for the "security of our wit-
nesses arid the evidence."
"There
'#ere illAgal
I
guns
confiscated . [from Baldo's
house andlwe fear for our lives
and [for] the lives of our wit-
nesses ... the decision is really a
death sentence on [our] quest
for justice," he said, noting that
o
they would seek protection
from authorities.
As ofSunday, Baldo had not
posted bail and was still at the
Legazpi City jail, where he was
detained since May ro. The In-
quirer reached out to members
of the Baldo family but they de-
clined to issue any statement.
Challenge
Justin betieved that they
have strong evidence against
Baldo. "I believe in the merit of
our case,:we have very strong
evidence-rz people all point-
ing at Baldo. We have the
physical, docum€ntary, evi-
dence so we will not rest our
case ... [and we] hope justice
prevails," he said.
He said his mother,
Gertrudes, was "very sad, de-
pressed" over the case's devel-
opment, but the family con-
sidered this as a "challenge
from God."
""We
won't allow that our
exerted effort will bte wasted.
The authorities really worked
hard to capture these peg1$
and gather all these [pieces ofl
evidence, [then] suddenly, just
because of this decision, the
wound from the day our father
was brutally taken away from
us was reopened," he said.
On Sunday, Rodolfo Ver-
zosa, Legazpi City jait warden,
said they would follgw any or-
der coming from the court re-
garding the temporary free-
dom of Baldo. Ne.