IN BAGO
Suspect in murder
of couple named
DOUBLE SLAY RAPS READIED

The police got a breakthrough in its investigation of the recent brutal killing of a couple in Brgy. Atipulohan, Bago City, after establishing the identity of the suspect, and recovering the weapon used in the crime.

Supt. Alex Belonio, Bago police chief, identified the suspect as Dennis Buga-ay, alias Totong, a neighbor of the victims, Antonio Jalandoni and his wife, Daisy. Belonio said Buga-ay who owed P4,700 in cash to the couple, fled immediately and reportedly sought refuge with his relatives in Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City.

The cane cutter and a "tuwang-tuwangan (bamboo balancing piece)" with bloodstains were recovered by the Bago police from the water melon farm of Buga-ay, about 200 meters away from a rice farm of Fe Pedroso where Jalandoni served as the caretaker.

The bodies of Jalandoni, 56, and his wife, Daisy, 53, with slash wounds in their throats, were found in the backyard, and inside their house on Feb. 27.

Police investigations showed that Jalandoni was hit with a "tuwang-tuwangan" before he was hacked in the neck with a cane cutter. The incident was reportedly triggered by a heated altercation between the suspect who failed to pay his debts and the victim. After killing Jalandoni, the suspect immediately shifted his attention to Mrs. Jalandoni was also hit with a hammer in the forehead, and slashed her throat with a cane cutter, Belonio said

The Bago police is now preparing the filing of double murder charges against Buga-ay.*GPB

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DALO condemns continued
S harassment of labor leader

The Democratic Association of Labor Organization has condemned what it calls the continued harassment of its leader in Murcia, Negros Occidental.

DALO chairperson Alan Gozon said labor leader Alfonso Articulo was "almost shot" by a passenger he delivered to Brgy. Salvacion, Murcia on Jan. 31.

Articulo drives a tricycle during off-milling season.

Gozon said the unidentified suspect ordered Articulo to stop so they could talk but Articulo escaped and reported the incident to the Murcia Police Station.

Before the incident, Gozon said Articulo, a leader of a worker's union in Hacienda Bernabe, Murcia, which is affiliated with DALO, said he was under surveillance by several persons. Articulo is among the 62 farm workers who filed a complaint against the lessee of Hacienda Bernabe 2 in Brgy. Salvacion, Murcia, before the Department of Labor Employment.

Gozon said Articulo who refused to withdraw the complaint, was subjected to harassment several times by still unidentified suspects, the latest of which was on Jan. 31, when he was "almost shot" by a suspect.

"This incident only prove that harassment and threats to the lives of the workers who only seek for their rightful benefits, continue to exist," Gozon said.*GPB