Mindanaotoday.com | Cops nab suspect in killing of Oro mayor’s son, aide
By: Jigger Jerusalem
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – After almost a year of hiding, authorities finally located and arrested the suspect in the killing of Roland Sherwin Uy and Samuel Pabalan Saturday, July 30, 2022.
Uy, who was more popularly known as “Tawee,” was the son of Mayor Rolando Uy, who was then the city’s 1st district congressman at the time of the shooting.
Col. Aaron Mandia, the city police director, identified the suspect as Edgardo Gaabucayan, believed to be a former member of the New People’s Army’s Special Partisan Unit or SPARU in Sindangan, Zamboanga Del Norte.
Mandia said Gaabucayan was arrested at Sitio Tapok-Tapok, Purok 6, Barangay Cabasagan in Lala town, Lanao del Norte.
Based on the warrant of arrest issued by Judge Emmanuel Pasal of the Regional Trial Court-Branch 38 based in this city, the suspect is facing two counts of murder.
Mandia said that the tracking team was on the tail of the suspect until the warrant was issued.
It can be recalled that the younger Uy and Pabalan were shot to death at the quarry site, where the mayor’s son operated a sand and gravel business, in Barangay Pagatpat, on Nov. 11, 2021.
Both victims had succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds that caused their instant deaths.
“Personal grudge was the main motive in this case and the employee Samuel ‘Tatay’ Pabalan was merely a collateral victim,” Mandia said.
The arrested suspect is now temporarily detained at Cagayan de Oro City Police Office’s Maharlika detention facility pending proper disposition of the case.
In a statement Sunday, July 31, Uy has expressed his gratitude to the authorities for the suspect’s arrest.
“Our family has been through sorrow and pain because of the crime that befallen my son. In the midst of the reality of their lives can no longer be taken back, we have to hold on to the hope and faith that justice will prevail. We are steadfast in our quest for justice,” the mayor said.
“We will continue to trust in our police and our criminal justice system, that those who have their hands in this crime will face the court and give what they deserve,” he added.
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