The Manila Prosecutor’s Office ordered on Friday the release of the four suspects in the killing of Batuan, Masbate Vice Mayor Charlie Yuson III, it was learned Sunday.
“The murder and the two frustrated murder cases filed against Bradford Solis, Juanito de Luna, Junel Gomez, and Rigor dela Cruz would be referred for further investigation, said the Manila prosecutor in a letter dated Oct. 11, which was released on Saturday.
This means that, the letter added, “said accused be released from [police] custody which recommendation was duly approved by [the] said office.”
Sought for comment, Manila Police District (MPD) director Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. said in a statement that in as much as they “wanted to build a strong case against the suspects, the decision of the Inquest Fiscal to Refer the case for Further Investigation (RFI)is beyond the control of the MPD.”
Danao assured that the MPD will exercise the full arm of the law in order for Yuson’s family to attain justice.
Yuson was shot dead while his two companions were wounded in an alleged ambush while eating breakfast in front of a house in Sampaloc, Manila, on Oct. 9.
The four suspects were immediately arrested by Manila police a day after the incident and were “positively identified by at least eight witnesses” who saw the incident.
In a press briefing, Lalaine Yuson, the slain vice mayor’s wife, claimed that she received a tip that one of the suspects was part of the Masbate police.
However, Danao said they would still verify if among the arrested suspects were policemen.
Yuson also asserted that one of the apprehended suspects is former driver of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office board member Sandra Cam.
But Cam denied her involvement in the incident and said that she has “nothing to do with the ambush.”
Cam said that she was only being dragged into Yuson’s killing because her son, Marco Martin Cam, ran against the former and lost to the victims’ son, Charmax Jan Yuson, in the 2019 mayoral elections in Masbate.
“It is so unfair that our family is being dragged into this, we’ve moved on from that election,” Cam said. (Joseph Pedrajas)
