CEBU CITY – Vicente “Ching” Veloso, former Leyte third district representative and Court of Appeals justice, denied allegations that he masterminded the killing of a barangay official in 2016.
Veloso belittled the move of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Major Crimes Investigation Unit to file a complaint against him before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
He described the filing of the complaint as a publicity stunt and it will not decide the outcome of his political bid against incumbent Leyte third district Rep. Richard Gomez.
“Ila kining gipaagi ug suwat sa DOJ (They did it in the form of writing the DOJ) for publicity purposes. But I am not worried about this. At the end of the day, my contest with Richard Gomez will be decided not by a case, but by the people,” Veloso said in a statement.
The CIDG-MCIU filed a murder complaint against Veloso after two witnesses tagged him as the alleged mastermind in the killing of Anthony Sevilla Nuñez in a cockpit in Barangay Malawaan, Tabango, Leyte on Jan. 23, 2016.
The CIDG-MCIU said that two men, Richan Dejo Pernis and William Louise Languido, who were part of the group that assassinated Nuñez, admitted their roles in the crime and pointed to Veloso as the mastermind.
Veloso’s legal team questioned why the complaint was filed before the DOJ when Pernis and Languido were detained at the CIDG-Region 8 and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-Biliran, respectively.
“The venue or forum of the filing, however, is wrong. Until such time a subpoena is received by Sir Ching Veloso, this may not be considered "a case" yet, since the DOJ may dismiss it motu propio for being a harassment suit and without reasonable certainty of conviction. Our team will endeavor to have this trashed as soon as possible,” the legal team stated.
Veloso wondered why it was only now that a complaint was filed against him when the crime happened nine years ago. A similar complaint had been filed but was dismissed, he said.
He added that witnesses may have been coerced and forced to implicate him as they have been detained in Camp Crame in Quezon City for two months.
In its complaint, the CIDG-MCIU said the killing of Nuñez was politically motivated as he was a supporter of his political rivals.
“Akoa kunong gipapatay kay supporter sa akong kontra. Wa man gani nako patya ang akong kontra? Kana na hinuon nga di nako kontra (I allegedly ordered the killing because he was a supporter of my rival. I didn’t even kill my rival how much more those who are not my enemy),” Veloso said.
Veloso said the filing of the complaint before the DOJ did not follow the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
The complaint must be filed by the police in the area where the offense was committed, or by an offended party, he said.
Veloso added that the filing of the complaint against him was just one of the harassment that he received since he decided to challenge Gomez in the upcoming elections.
He said his move to transfer his voter’s registration was opposed while a petition to cancel his Certificate of Candidacy was also sought.
“Wala sila nagmalamposon. Ug kay dili man ko nila mapa-disqualify, ila nalang kong samukon (They did not succeed and since they cannot have me disqualified, they will just harass me),” Veloso said.