By Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City-From random interviews with a number of political observers, both in the 3rd and 4th districts of Leyte, several red flags had been raised suggesting the probability of a politically motivated or fabricated case about the reopening of a murder case that happened nine years ago.
Councilman (Kagawad) Albert Nuñez of the remote Barangay Manlawaan in the 4th-class town of Tabango, Leyte, was shot dead right inside a cockpit on 23 January 2016, in full view of many cockfight spectators.
The case was filed but was dismissed, and the alleged gunman—nabbed sooner after the incident—was cleared of the crime, all due to insufficient evidence.
For nearly a decade, there was no indication the case would be revived. However, it was, but with a surprising twist: former Court of Appeals Associate Justice and former congressman Vicente “Ching” Veloso III is named as the alleged mastermind.
Ching is running in the May 2025 election for a congressional seat of the 4th district—currently held by Rep. Richard Gomez.
The former Associate Justice, in an interview, hinted that the sudden reopening by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Major Crimes Investigation Unit (CIDG-MCIU), in the absence of new evidence, raises suspicions of external influence, related to the upcoming 2025 elections.
Ching, also a former congressman of the 3rd district, was never previously linked to the case but named as the mastermind of the crime nine years after the incident.
He took this twist as a targeted approach, or a pattern of framing up an enemy, inferring the possibility that political rivals or interest groups have influenced some authorities to use the case as leverage against him, especially his being a candidate in the 2025 elections.
However, no formal case has been filed in court yet against Ching. Reports in mainstream newspapers have suggested otherwise. The media’s basis that a case had been filed was only about the CIDG-MCIU’s letter to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, requesting “appropriate” action on the Nuñez case. No action is yet heard or seen, as of this writing.
In the letter, the CIDG-MCIU mentioned six persons as supposed respondents to the Nuñez murder case they revived.
Number one in the list is Ching, described as the mastermind to the killing; then two alleged accomplices who pinpointed at Ching—Richan Dejon Pernis and William Languido; Nicolas “Butoy” Bañez as the alleged gunman; and two alleged conspirators Edwin Mulle and Edwin Comendador.
Interestingly, Banez, Mulle, and Comendador are now reported to be deceased already, and could no longer defend themselves. By all indications, the revived murder case was mostly based on the testimonies of Pernis and Languido, who are both currently under custody by the CIDG at Camp Crame in Quezon City. All five, incidentally, were reportedly former security workers of a farm owned by Ching.
Pernis was said to have testified to the CIDG that Ching paid them to kill Nuñez, help Bañez to accomplish the task as the gunman, with Languido as the getaway vehicle driver and lookout, along with Mulle and Comendador. At least, that’s the Pernis narrative, which authorities seemingly took hook, line, and sinker.
In Ching’s official statement (written in Bisaya) shared to the media recently, he bared that Pernis was a former NPA member who was arrested, via a warrant, for a pending murder case in San Miguel town in Leyte. Languido was earlier detained at a jail in Biliran for another case. However, the two were taken by the CIDG in its custody at Crame purportedly due to their supposed admission of their alleged participation in the Nuñez case, implicating Ching also.
Ching said that, the Rules on Criminal Procedure obliges authorities to file any complaint by the police in the area where the offense was committed, or by an offended party. Yet, the two had been in CIDG custody for months already, which he said violated the rules.
“Why did they not surrender the two to court?” asked Ching, implying that the custody might be possibly done to pressure the two into crafting the narrative, complete with their affidavits, to implicate Ching.
The CIDG-MCIU however insisted that the Nuñez murder was politically motivated, considering that the victim was a known supporter of Veloso’s political rivals.
Reacting to this allegation, Ching said: “I have nothing to gain, if Nunez was killed. Why would I have my rival’s supporter killed instead.”
One lawyer, who asked not to be identified publicly, opined that naming Ching, now 80 years old, as a mastermind of a murder case is one political strategy in framing someone by using the media to build public perception of guilt ahead of legal proceedings, or before a court trial occurs.
“This is common in many fabricated or politically motivated cases,” Ching remarked.(CJ/jmm/mgd)
- Calbayog Journal, May 08, 2025
Tacloban City-From random interviews with a number of political observers, both in the 3rd and 4th districts of Leyte, several red flags had been raised suggesting the probability of a politically motivated or fabricated case about the reopening of a murder case that happened nine years ago.
Councilman (Kagawad) Albert Nuñez of the remote Barangay Manlawaan in the 4th-class town of Tabango, Leyte, was shot dead right inside a cockpit on 23 January 2016, in full view of many cockfight spectators.
The case was filed but was dismissed, and the alleged gunman—nabbed sooner after the incident—was cleared of the crime, all due to insufficient evidence.
For nearly a decade, there was no indication the case would be revived. However, it was, but with a surprising twist: former Court of Appeals Associate Justice and former congressman Vicente “Ching” Veloso III is named as the alleged mastermind.
Ching is running in the May 2025 election for a congressional seat of the 4th district—currently held by Rep. Richard Gomez.
The former Associate Justice, in an interview, hinted that the sudden reopening by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Major Crimes Investigation Unit (CIDG-MCIU), in the absence of new evidence, raises suspicions of external influence, related to the upcoming 2025 elections.
Ching, also a former congressman of the 3rd district, was never previously linked to the case but named as the mastermind of the crime nine years after the incident.
He took this twist as a targeted approach, or a pattern of framing up an enemy, inferring the possibility that political rivals or interest groups have influenced some authorities to use the case as leverage against him, especially his being a candidate in the 2025 elections.
However, no formal case has been filed in court yet against Ching. Reports in mainstream newspapers have suggested otherwise. The media’s basis that a case had been filed was only about the CIDG-MCIU’s letter to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, requesting “appropriate” action on the Nuñez case. No action is yet heard or seen, as of this writing.
In the letter, the CIDG-MCIU mentioned six persons as supposed respondents to the Nuñez murder case they revived.
Number one in the list is Ching, described as the mastermind to the killing; then two alleged accomplices who pinpointed at Ching—Richan Dejon Pernis and William Languido; Nicolas “Butoy” Bañez as the alleged gunman; and two alleged conspirators Edwin Mulle and Edwin Comendador.
Interestingly, Banez, Mulle, and Comendador are now reported to be deceased already, and could no longer defend themselves. By all indications, the revived murder case was mostly based on the testimonies of Pernis and Languido, who are both currently under custody by the CIDG at Camp Crame in Quezon City. All five, incidentally, were reportedly former security workers of a farm owned by Ching.
Pernis was said to have testified to the CIDG that Ching paid them to kill Nuñez, help Bañez to accomplish the task as the gunman, with Languido as the getaway vehicle driver and lookout, along with Mulle and Comendador. At least, that’s the Pernis narrative, which authorities seemingly took hook, line, and sinker.
In Ching’s official statement (written in Bisaya) shared to the media recently, he bared that Pernis was a former NPA member who was arrested, via a warrant, for a pending murder case in San Miguel town in Leyte. Languido was earlier detained at a jail in Biliran for another case. However, the two were taken by the CIDG in its custody at Crame purportedly due to their supposed admission of their alleged participation in the Nuñez case, implicating Ching also.
Ching said that, the Rules on Criminal Procedure obliges authorities to file any complaint by the police in the area where the offense was committed, or by an offended party. Yet, the two had been in CIDG custody for months already, which he said violated the rules.
“Why did they not surrender the two to court?” asked Ching, implying that the custody might be possibly done to pressure the two into crafting the narrative, complete with their affidavits, to implicate Ching.
The CIDG-MCIU however insisted that the Nuñez murder was politically motivated, considering that the victim was a known supporter of Veloso’s political rivals.
Reacting to this allegation, Ching said: “I have nothing to gain, if Nunez was killed. Why would I have my rival’s supporter killed instead.”
One lawyer, who asked not to be identified publicly, opined that naming Ching, now 80 years old, as a mastermind of a murder case is one political strategy in framing someone by using the media to build public perception of guilt ahead of legal proceedings, or before a court trial occurs.
“This is common in many fabricated or politically motivated cases,” Ching remarked.(CJ/jmm/mgd)
- Calbayog Journal, May 08, 2025
