In past KFR entries I have detailed the January of 2009 KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, of Zamboanga City businessman Eliseo Hablo. On January 8th, 2009 Hablo, owner of two Julie's Bakeshop franchises in the city and a large fishing fleet also based in the city had spent the afternoon at one of the Julie franchises in a drinking bout with friends. As the day turned into evening and the 44 year old man jumped into his white Hyundai Starex van for the ride home to his compound on the city's Governor Gamins Road he decided to first stop at his second franchise on the other side of town. En route he found his van boxed in by two motorcycles, each holding gunmen on the rear of the bike. As they forced Hablo's van to stop both gunmen jumped in and forced him to drive to the city's Barangay San Roque where the van was later discovered in the Sanroe Subdivision, with blood stains on the front seat.
Initially Hablo's family refused to believe he had been kidnapped, as Hablo has been know to disappear for days at a time when on drinking binges. On January 23rd though, the Vice Governor of Basilan Province, Alrasheed Sakalahul, announced that on the 19th he had "discovered" that Hablo had been sold to the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (military wing of the MILF) 114 Base Command's sub-Kumander Lijal Usman and was being held in that island's municipality of Tuburan. Vice Governor Sakalahul added that the ransom demand was a steep P20 Million ($450,000). As it turns out that entire story was a diversion because Hablo had never left Zamboanga City.
On February 10th, 2009, Zamboanga City CPO (City Police Office) Director, Senior Superintendent Mario Yanga led a detachment of his men in a raid on a three story cement boarding home in the city's Sitio SOUTHCOM Village in Barangay Upper Clarian. Located next to SOUTHCOM Elementary School on Penafrancia Drive, just meters from the entrance to WESMINCOM, formerly SOUTHCOM (WESMINCOM is one of two Mindanowan military commands on Mindanao, SOUTHCOM was the unitary command for the island before they were divided). On the first floor of the home the police captured 6 suspects, two of whom were fellow police officers:
1) PO3 Alwyn Abdua, of the CPO
2) PO1 Marcial Gabitanan Lim, also of the CPO, 38 years old and a resident of Barangay Baliwasan Grande
3) Joel Enriquez Pena, 51, of Barangay Pasonanca
4) Saturnino Garcia Limpas, 25, from the municipality of Sidangan, in that same province of Zamboanga del Norte
5) Joel Mabatan Gonzalez, 33, renting the house in question
6) Harmon Endong Juban, 33, of Barangay Surabay in the municipality of R.T. Lim (Roseller T. Lim) in Zamboanga Sibugay Province
More importantly, searching the house they discovered, in the basement, blindfolded, with noise cancelling headphones over his ears and handcuffed to a bedrail, Mr.Hablo. The arestees were shuffled off to the CIDG, or Criminal Investigation and Detection Group while Mr.Hablo was brought to CPO Headquarters for a debriefing after the obligatory medical exam.
Upon interrogation of the 6 suspects the group's ringleader was revealed as was the names of two other suspects. The same CPO detachment then launched another raid that same afternoon and the mastermind, 62 year old attorney Hasan Go Alam and his 35 year old wife Grace Gonzalez Alam were captured in their home on Navarro Court in the city's Barangay Santa Maria. Lastly, a third raid that afternoon captured the last two suspects, Mark Ausley and Marvin Agullana in the home they were sharing with fellow suspect Joel Enriquez Pena in Sitio Luyahan, Barangay Pasonanca. The last two were flipped into co-operating witnesses and this is where today's entry begins. Entering into the brand new Witness Protection Program, the first in the Philippines, the two men, both in their early 20s, were ensconced in a DOJ, or Department of Justice, safehouse, as the programme is administered by the DOJ. Amazingly, the DOJ allowed CPO personnel to guard the young men, two huge mistakes (the first being the location of a safehouse in a municipality where both witnesses are known).
On Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 PO1 Tomasito "Tomaso" Tarro Dauba, guarding the two witnesses at the safehouse on Unity Drive in Barangay Teutan was getting his two wards ready for an appearance in court later that day. Witness Marvin Agullana was reviewing an Affadavit where he had described witnessing an exchange between the group's ringleader, attorney Hasan Go Alam and his brother in law, John Janatul, the Vice Mayor of Sumisip on Basilan Island. Alam had asked Janatul for help in obtaining an able negotiator to haggle for the ransom, initially set at P3 Million ($70,000). Janatul recommended that his brother in law, Alam, contract it out to local strongman, Wee Dee Ping, known more commonly as Lepeng Wee. Wee, a Tsinoy, or Chinese Filipino, is a smuggling kingpin who had served as former President Joseph "ERAP" Estrada's Advisor on Mindanao, as well as running unsuccessfully himself as Mayor of Zamboanga City in 2004.
Though Wee has accumulated a very large and lucrative business empire he has continued in his criminal activities. He is currently appealing a 20 year prison sentence he received in 2010 (Regional Trial Court 12, Zamboanga City, by Judge Gregorio de la Pena) over 39 drums of a prohibited chemical used to manufacture foam to be used in turn in the manufacture of furniture. Smuggling by way of Sandakan Island in Malaysia, inside of the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group, orbit Wee has become quite involved on the financial end of ASG activities. It was Wee who negotiated the release of three ethnic Chinese resort workers from Malaysia, kidnapped by ASG from Sipidan Island in 2000, as well as being the thief who stole a U$300,000 ransom payment in the Burnham saga, the American victims from the ASG kidnapping in Palawan. The money had been entrusted to Wee by a representative of the father of Mr.Burnham and then mysteriously evaporated into thin air.
As Mr.Agullana reviewed his Affadavit a second guard arrived. PO3 Carmelo Macasantos who then immediately walked up to PO1 Dauba, drew his 45 caliber service pistol and shot him point blank between the eyes. Turning the gun on both witnesses he shot Agullana point blank in the head and then landed one round in the side of Mark Ausley who did his best to escape.
PO3 Macasantos then left the safehouse and rode off on his black Honda XRM motorcycle. Contacted by the CPO Director, Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo he was convinced to turn himself in, which he did at 1030AM, handing over PO1 Dauba's 45 caliber pistol as well. Ocampo is telling a silly story about the two officers having fought previously, and with Macansantos' grandaughter recently dying it sent the officer over the edge. What Ocampo is NOT saying though is that Macansantos was a classmate of KFR suspect PO3 Alwin Abdua, PNP Class of 1977. Just a litle too close for comfort to believe the official line. A CPO officer guarding two key suspects in a KFR case involving...CPO officers? Suuuuure, a grandaughter and some words, whatever.
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