BY IME SORNITO AND RUBY SILUBRICO
GUIMARAS – The provincial government of Guimaras is seeking the help of Police General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police, and President Rodrigo Duterte to solve the killing of 36-year-old businesswoman Claire Diergos.
“Nagabuylog ang bug-os nga probinsya sa kalisod kag kasubo sang pamilya,” said Vice Gov. John Edward Gando.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) passed a resolution on Tuesday, expressing “indignation and strong denunciation” of the killing. Diergos’ parents were from Barangay New Poblacion, Buenavista town.
The SP appealed for the country’s top cop to look into the case “thoroughly”, arrest and convict the perpetrators.
“It would seem nga ang tawo sa likod sang pagpatay may poder kag may impluwensya,” Gando said. “The manner of the execution appears to be well-planned – daw almost seamless, perfect.”
The resolution would be copy-furnished to President Duterte, according to Gando.
He added that the provincial government is also willing to provide legal assistance to the Diergos family when they file charges against the suspects.
The provincial government pledged to shoulder the expenses for Diergos’ funeral this Sunday.
Diergos was found dead in an abandoned Montero Sport in Barangay Inangayan, Santa Barbara, Iloilo in the afternoon of Oct. 26.
Probers determined that Diergos was stabbed to death in her house at Deca Homes Subdivision in neighboring Pavia town. Bloodstains were detected in her house through a luminol acid test that the police conducted.
HALF MILLION-PESO BOUNTY
A bounty of P500,000 is now being offered to anyone who can provide vital information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects.
Buenavista’s Mayor Eugenio Reyes said the local government offered another P100,000 on top of the P100,000 from the municipality of Pavia through Mayor Laurence Anthony Gorriceta, and P300,000 from businessman Carlo Hubo, a friend of Diergos.
“Gusto naton mahatagan hustisya ang iya kamatayon,” Reyes told Panay News.
Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), said there were no prime suspects yet “pero wala kita nagadula sang paglaum.”
On Wednesday, three more individuals volunteered information.
The special investigation team already got their statements; these would be assessed.
Police were entertaining all angles to include robbery, Diergos’ business dealings and personal relationships.
Gorero also confirmed that polygraph experts from Camp Crame – the headquarters of the PNP in Quezon City – are now here to “test” Diergo’s house help, Rodilyn Sumbong of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.
The IPPO has yet to announce the schedule of the test.
The police said Sumbong is a person of interest in the case but could be a “credible” witness.
Sumbong is now under the police’s protective custody./PN
