Police nab mastermind, hired gunman behind Fr. Nilo slay

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde has announced the arrest of four individuals in the killing of Fr. Richmond Nilo in Nueva Ecija last month. (Photo courtesy: Leo Sarne, Radyo Pilipinas via PNA)

The alleged mastermind and gunman behind the killing of Catholic priest Fr. Richmond Nilo are now in the hands of the Philippine National Police (PNP), according to PNP chief, Director General Albayalde.

In a press briefing held on Monday, July 2, at Camp Crame, Albaylde identified “self-confessed” gunman Omar Mallari, who was arrested in Arayat, Pampanga on June 22 for robbery and homicide case.

Mallari, alias “Bulik,” confessed that it was Manuel Torres who hired him to kill Fr. Nilo inside a chapel in Nueva Ecija on June 10 in exchange of P100,000 payment.

Aside from Torres and Mallari, other suspects behind the killing were Rolando Garcia and Marius Albis who surrendered to the police.

Torres allegedly has grudges against Fr. Nilo for filing charges of molestation and rape of his minor altar servers against his nephew, Christopher Torres, who was a former seminarian. Torres’s nephew did not become a priest due to the charges.

Meanwhile, Torres, according to the PNP, said he did not know Mallari and remained silent against the accusations lodged against him.

The police force earlier nabbed Adel Roll Milan, who was tagged as the “fall-guy” of Fr. Nilo’s murder but was later on released after the Regional Trial Court Branch 27 in Cabanatuan City withdrew the case after learning that they got the wrong suspect.

Despite the arrest of the four suspects, the authorities said they will continue to look for the other suspects who were part of Fr. Nilo’s murder.

Fr. Nilo was the third member of the clergy who was killed in the past six months.

The first priest was Fr. Mark Ventura, a Cagayan priest and a known anti-mining advocate, who was shot dead by riding-in-tandem assassins when he was blessing children after celebrating mass.

Fr. Ventura’s death was followed by the killing of Fr. Marcelito “Tito” Paez on December 4, 2017. He was murdered after he helped facilitate the release of a political detainee in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.