Son had mom, lover killed, says hitman
The conflict between mother and son supposedly stemmed from money and property issues, with Gloria having filed cases of robbery and carnapping against Charlito
Daily TribuneThe conflict between mother and son supposedly stemmed from money and property issues, with Gloria having filed cases of robbery and carnapping against Charlito
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Police yesterday announced the arrest of one of two gunmen tagged in the cold-blooded killing of a couple inside a bus as it was traversing Carraglan, Nueva Ecija last 15 November.
The suspect was identified as Allan delos Santos, said to be a member of a gun-for-hire group contracted to kill Gloria Atilano and Arman Bautista allegedly by the woman's estranged son.
In an extrajudicial confession, Delos Santos said Charlito Atilano hired them to kill his mother and her partner for P60,000 each. A witness who saw the suspects' faces before they boarded the bus identified Delos Santos.
Charlito had himself interviewed by the media, along with his father, to deny allegations at the time that he may have been behind the killings.
The police have yet to arrest Charlito.
Gloria and Bautista were sitting diagonally behind the driver of the Victory Liner bus when Delos Santos and another man walked up from the back and shot the two without a word.
The gunmen then ordered the driver to open the bus door, and they jumped out and escaped. The crime was caught on the closed-circuit TV camera of the bus, and the video went viral.
The conflict between mother and son supposedly stemmed from money and property issues, with Gloria having filed cases of robbery and carnapping against Charlito.
Nueva Ecija Police Provincial director, Col. Richard Caballero, said Delos Santos was assisted by a lawyer when he confessed to the crime and revealed details that led to the filing of two counts of murder against him and four others.
Caballero said that based on Delos Santos' testimony and their initial investigation, the planning for the killing started in November, and the crime was motivated by the mother's filing of a criminal case against her son.
He cited a video made by Gloria where she stated that she was stripping Charlito of any rights to her properties.
Delos Santos, according to Caballero, is a notorious hitman operating in Nueva Ecija and Isabela, against whom arrest warrants for statutory rape and sexual assault had been issued. He was arrested in Dilasan, Aurora on 20 November.
According to the gunman, the mastermind made an initial payment of P20,000 for the P60,000 contract price for each of the two victims.
Police Regional Office 3 chief, Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr. said they are hunting down all those who have been implicated in the twin murders.
The victims, who died on the spot, were reportedly live-in partners. The gunmen got off the bus and fled across a nearby river. Police said Charlito disapproved of the relationship between his mother and Bautista.
With Glen Jacob Jose