4 others sought

A FORMER bodyguard of deposed President Joseph Estrada has been tagged the mastermind behind the fatal shooting of Baron Cervantes, government informant and self-styled spokesperson of the Young Officers' Union (YOU).

"The mastermind is already known, but we can't disclose his name pending his arrest. Maybe tomorrow (Thursday)," Director General Leandro Mendoza, chief of the Philippine National Police, said Wednesday at a press conference where he announced the arrest of the alleged gunman.

Ex-Marine Sgt. Joseph Mostrales, 37, was arrested Saturday by agents of the National Anti-Crime Commission Anti-KFR Task Force (Naktaf) in Umingan, Pangasinan.

"This is a big break in our campaign against criminality," Mendoza said.

Mostrales, who was discharged from the Marines in March for absence without leave, had served as close-in security aide of Estrada while still detailed with the Presidential Security Group in 2000, Mendoza said.

He is a member of the Guardians Brotherhood Association Inc., a fraternity of military officers reportedly affiliated with the rightist group Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM).

Mostrales' alleged accomplice, Jaime Centeno, 39, was arrested in Antipolo City on Tuesday night.

Their arrest came more than four months after Cervantes was shot dead in front of a convenience store in Las Piņas on the night of Dec. 31.

Four other suspects, who were not identified, were being hunted down, police officials said.

Witnesses positively identified Mostrales as the gunman. Following his arrest, he disclosed the identities of the mastermind and of his other accomplices, Mendoza said.

"There are some voluntary disclosures naming the mastermind and some cohorts in the killing of Cervantes," the PNP chief said.

Mostrales has offered to testify against other parties involved in the killing of Cervantes, according to the PNP.

Mendoza said the brains and the other suspects could be arrested even before charges were filed against them.

Despite their arrest, the involvement of some retired and active police and military officers in Cervantes' killing would still be looked into, police officials said.

"That's part of the investigation, but as of now we can't reveal other details," Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Naktaf chief, said when asked if Superintendents Rafael Cardeņo and Diosdado Valeroso were now off the hook.

Cardeņo is reportedly the chair and Valeroso a member of YOU, a group involved in military coup attempts against then President Corazon Aquino in the late 1980s. YOU has since declared that it is abandoning violence.

Several angles eyed

Investigators had looked into several angles in Cervantes' killing, including his disclosure of an alleged coup plot against the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last December and alleged irregularities in the Land Transportation Office (LTO), all involving retired and active military and police officers.

Hours before he was shot, Cervantes delivered an intelligence report to Pastor "Boy" Saycon, head of the Council on Philippine Affairs, at the latter's residence in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City.

The report details the destabilization plot against the administration and contains the names of those involved in the plot, including Cardeņo, Valeroso and retired Commodore Domingo Calajate, former LTO chief.

The three had denied any involvement in a coup plot.

Cervantes also turned over documents, which detailed bidding irregularities in the LTO, to Dante Jimenez, chair and president of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, before December last year.

During the press conference, Ebdane said Naktaf was also looking into the involvement of Mostrales and other discharged Marine troopers in the kidnapping of Grace Ong and Jason Lim in October 2001, and Angela Pineda in November 2001.

Mostrales was charged with kidnapping in the Tarlac Metropolitan Trial Court. A warrant for his arrest was issued by Judge Luisito Adaoag.

Mostrales and Centeno have yet to be charged in connection with the killing of Cervantes.

YOU founder tagged brains in Cervantes slay
Posted: 0:07 AM (Manila Time) | May 17, 2002
By TJ Burgonio
Inquirer News Service

'Voluntary disclosures'

THROUGHOUT his 20-year career as a police officer, the alleged mastermind in the killing of government informant Baron Cervantes has been known for his involvement in destabilization plots against the government.

Supt. Rafael Cardeņo, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1982, was suspected "as one of the brains" of the series of failed coup attempts in the late 1980s against then President Corazon Aquino.

He, together with other military officers, founded the Young Officers Union (YOU) after the coup attempts led by the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM) failed to topple the Aquino administration, sources said.

The coups mounted by YOU were considered the bloodiest in the country's history.

Police Thursday hinted that Cardeņo, YOU chair, had resented Cervantes' disclosure last December of an alleged destabilization plot against the Macapagal administration.

"Sagabal siya sa mga adhikain ng aming organisasyon (He has become a liability to the organization)," the alleged gunman quoted Cardeņo as saying when the YOU chair gave orders for the killing of Cervantes, self-styled spokesperson of YOU.

Ex-Marine Sgt. Joseph Mostrales has tagged Cardeņo as the brains in the killing of Cervantes "in one of his voluntary disclosures" to investigators.

"He's a liability to the organization that's why he was done in," Chief Supt. Jose Gutierrez of the Southern Police District quoted Mostrales as saying.

Cardeņo gave the orders for the killing on the same day Cervantes was gunned down in front of a convenience store in Las Piņas City on the night of Dec. 31 last year.

After the killing, he handed Mostrales "a paltry sum" as reward, Gutierrez said.

Police Thursday launched a manhunt for Cardeņo and four other accomplices of Mostrales. Cardeņo, who has not reported for work since being re-assigned from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to the police office in Western Visayas in October last year, could not be reached for comment.

His reassignment came after he was accused of spreading coup rumors against the Macapagal administration.

"He is believed to be still here in Metro Manila," Gutierrez said, adding that police have already coordinated with immigration and customs authorities to stop him and the other suspects from fleeing the country.

Cardeņo's brother said the police had been trying to get his brother since Day 1 of the killing.

"Ever since (the killing), that has been their design, to pin him down," lawyer Reynaldo Cardeņo, older brother and counsel of the YOU leader, told defense reporters.

Mostrales, a member of the Guardians Brotherhood Association Inc. and former close-in security aide of deposed President Joseph Estrada, disclosed the identity of the mastermind after a witness identified him as the gunman, officials said.

He was captured in Umingan, Pangasinan last Saturday. An alleged accomplice, Jaime Centeno, was arrested in Antipolo City on Tuesday night.

The Guardians is a fraternity of military and police officers affiliated with the rightist groups RAM and YOU. After some time, it recruited civilians "from all walks of life," sources said.

Gutierrez said Mostrales' disclosure was backed by pieces of documentary evidence, which he declined to specify.

The police have yet to establish if other "personalities" were involved in the killing of Cervantes. "So far the evidence only points to Cardeņo as the mastermind," Gutierrez said.

Strongest motive

A witness close to Cervantes told the Inquirer early this year that Cardeņo had the "strongest motive" to have Cervantes killed.

Cardeņo, according to the witness, had blamed Cervantes for his relief as LTO chief operations officer amid allegations of irregularities.

Cervantes had turned over documents on the anomalies at the LTO to Dante Jimenez, chair and president of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, before December last year.

The anomalies, allegedly involving military and police officers, pertained to drug testing for drivers and vehicle insurance.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Pastor "Boy" Saycon, secretary general of the Council for Philippine Affairs, said the arrest of Mostrales showed that military officers had a hand in Cervantes' killing.

"It points to the Guardians, RAM and YOU. It involves their leaders. This is one big family," Saycon said.

He said Mostrales' arrest boosted the theory that Cervantes' killing had something to do with his disclosure of an alleged coup plot against the administration and alleged anomalies at the LTO.

"Those were the only two angles," he said.

Hours before he was shot, Cervantes delivered an intelligence report to Saycon at the latter's residence in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City.

The report detailed the alleged destabilization plot and contained the names of the alleged plotters, including retired Gen. Edgardo Abenina and Superintendents Cardeņo and Diosdado Valeroso. Cardeņo was Abenina's special assistant at the LTO.

Senior Supt. Leonardo Espina, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police, said the PNP was still evaluating Mostrales' offer to turn state witness.

"That's being carefully studied," Espina said.

But retired Col. Romeo Lim, one of the founders of YOU, doubted if the police had arrested the right gunman.

"I don't think they caught the right guy. While I don't have personal knowledge of Cervantes' killing, I have heard rumors that the gunman is not from Luzon. I never tried to do my own investigation because I'm not a policeman," he said in an interview over dzBB.

Lim said he was not certain if Mostrales was a member of RAM. "RAM has thousands of members. You could not identify all of them. I saw him on TV. I doubt if I have seen him once in the RAM headquarters," he said. With a report from Martin P. Marfil