Editorial: Questions

More questions have surfaced after the arrest of four active police officers and one former police officer for their alleged involvement in the murder of Balungag, San Fernando Barangay Councilor Maria Louela “Malou” Baringui-an and her husband.Questions did not stop on their tracks in the subsequent filing of criminal charges against the police officers.The suspects’ intent was robbery, and they did not mean to murder the Baringui-an couple, so said the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO 7). This is why the suspects are facing a robbery with homicide complaint before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor.Facing charges are active officers Staff Sergeants Rene Abella Catamora of the Consolacion police, Junrey Ypil of the Danao City police and Junrey Batobalonos of the Lapu-Lapu City intelligence unit and Master Sergeant Alvin Enad of the Ronda police, and former police officer Esmeraldo Quillosa.What the PRO 7 officials did not disclose to the public is the reason why these suspects from different police units banded to rob the Baringui-an couple in Barangay Panadtaran, San Fernando, Cebu.Before they were deployed to different police stations, the suspects had been members of the Regional Intelligence Division at the PRO 7.Did these suspects know the victims before they traveled to Panadtaran and entered the Baringui-ans’ residence? These suspects must have had information about the couple before they traveled to the southern Cebu town.Catamora and Ypil made sworn statements implicating three other suspects. They said it was Enad who initially contacted them and Batobalonos. Was Enad the mastermind? If so, why did he come up with the plan for robbery? Did he come up with the plan on his own? If he did, why? Did he have an ax to grind against the victims? What was their connection?As usual, when criminal complaints are already filed against suspects, the police declare the case solved.The PRO 7 did say that last week.But as long as there are still questions hovering above the case, the Baringui-an couple murder is not yet solved. It is still a mystery.