INVESTIGATORS are looking into reports pointing to jealousy as the motive in the murder of Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas, the young municipal health officer gunned down by still unidentified men in Lanao del Norte last March 1.
Lanao del Norte Police Provincial Director Faro Antonio Olaguera said police investigators are focusing on the jealousy angle while checking out other leads in the case.
Olaguera refused to go into specific details about the new development of the case as this would “likely jeopardize their ongoing investigation.”
“This is a very serious crime and the suspect/s should not go unpunished, actually naa natay mga (we have several) leads, out of many leads, naa ta usa ginatan-aw na jealousy, but so far wala paman ta witness karon, paabot pata sa forensic report sa ballistic na gihimo sa initial na na-recover sa crime scene, ang cellphone ni Dr. Drey wala pa pud result, nag-promise man pud ang cybercrime nga karong adlawa nila i-release pero so far wala pa karon (we focused on the jealousy angle, but so far, we don't have witnesses yet, we're still waiting for the forensic report based on what we have recovered in the crime scene, including Dr. Drey's cellphone. The cybercrime promised that they will release the results but so far, we haven't received it yet),” he said.
Olaguera said they are also validating if the gun-for-hire killed last Saturday was indeed a suspect in the Perlas' killing.
He said the mobile phone of slain suspect Agapito Tamparong Democer has been sent to the Philippine National Police anti-cybercrime department.
Democer was gunned down by soldiers and policemen after he fought with authorities serving a warrant for his arrest in Barangay Tiacongan, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte, around 3 p.m. Saturday, March 4.
Law enforcement authorities had earlier tagged Democer as a member of the Revolutionary Peoples’ Army (RPA), a group that broke away from the New People’s Army in the 1990s.
The RPA denied Democer was involved in Perlas’ murder.
“We categorically deny the totally baseless and a pure fabrication of the allegations coming from some elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, linking Comrade Ruben (Democer) to the cold-blooded murder of Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas, as a desperate attempt to paint a criminal image of a revolutionary organization,” the RPA said in a statement.
“Dr. Perlas is not only a big loss to the people of Sapad and of the whole province of Lanao del Norte, he is also a big loss to us because we have known that he had been serving the most neglected and deprived peoples in our areas,” the RPA added.
Olaguera said the cash reward for anyone who can help pinpoint Perlas’ murderers has reached P150,000.
“Sa part naman ng (In the part of the) Provincial Government, dako kaayo ilang tabang, naa silay gihatag nga cash reward, hopefully naay mogawas nga (has helped us especially in offering cash rewards for any) informant who can give us reliable information that would help us nga ma-solve ang kaso (to solve the case). Also, we are optimistic that the local government of Sapad will cooperate in our investigation, kasi ngayon, medyo dili kaayo sila ga-cooperate (since they are not that cooperative),” he said.
Two days after Perlas was killed, the Lanao police has formed Task Force Perlas to lead the investigation of the physician's death.
Task Force Perlas is composed of personnel from the police intelligence unit, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Scene of the Crime Operatives, the military, and other law enforcement agencies.
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