Reward money vs killers of state U top exec reaches P2.5-M

Rotoras, who was gunned down outside his home in Barangay Carmen on Dec. 2. (Wikimedia commons, Fair use)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— The reward money for those who can help authorities with information leading to the resolution of the killing of a prominent university president here has already reached PhP2.5 million, the National Bureau of Investigation-10 (NBI-10) chief said.

NBI-10 Regional Director Sally Hans Barbaso said their priority is to identify those behind the killing University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) president Ricardo Rotoras. The bigger reward money will help authorities to obtain vital leads in the case, he added.

Rotoras, who was gunned down outside his home in Barangay Carmen on Dec. 2, was also the head of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) for four consecutive terms prior to his death.

A few hours after the killing, Mayor Oscar Moreno announced the city government’s offer of P1 million for those who can pinpoint the perpetrators.

Another P1 million was offered by the members of the local chapters of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines, of which Rotoras was an active member.

On Wednesday, the city council approved the release of P500,000 as additional reward money.

Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., who proposed the reward, said he hopes “someone will have the courage to work with investigators so the perpetrators could be identified.”

Barbaso said that based on their initial investigation, at least four people carried out Rotoras’ killing.

Aside from the two gunmen, he said, another person acted as a lookout outside the subdivision fence. The fourth suspect was the driver of the getaway vehicle.

It was also possible that a second lookout was monitoring Rotoras while he was attending a Christmas party in a hotel hours before he was killed.

“This is a well-planned and well-financed operation,” Barbaso said, adding that the suspects were probably professional hired guns.

The NBI-10 chief also disclosed that the perpetrators went to the area twice, probably to familiarize themselves with the surroundings.

He said witnesses living nearby turned over a makeshift wooden ladder that the suspects used to climb over the housing subdivision fence on their first visit. A second ladder, made of coconut lumber, was found within the crime scene.

Meanwhile, The Commission on Higher Education has designated USTP-Claveria Campus chancellor as the acting USTP president.