DOJ indicts mayor, 6 others for killing partylist solon, bodyguard

April 4, 2019

Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo and six others was indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for killing AKO Bicol Partylist Rep. Rodel Batocabe last December. Acting Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said cases for two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder have been filed against Baldo and six others before the Legazpi City Regional Trial Court.

Fadullon, head of the DOJ's National Prosecution Service, said the investigating prosecutors from Albay prosecutor's office found probable cause to proceed with filing the cases.

Batocabe and his security escort, Senior Police Officer 1 Orlando Diaz, were shot dead by unidentified men in a remote village in Daraga last Dec.22.

Batocabe, 52, who is running for mayor in his hometown in May polls, was about to board his vehicle after attending a gift-giving event for senior citizens in Barangay Burgos when two masked men shot him and his aide at close range.

Both died while being treated at a local hospital.

The Philippine National Police filed the complaint after several persons involved in the slay surrendered to police and tagged Baldo as the mastermind. DMS