Cops recover SUV used in church driver slay

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY – Police recovered in Barangay Pandanon, Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, a black sports utility vehicle believed to have been used by suspects in the killing of a church driver in Barangay Taculing last month.

Police Lt. Meller Dionio, spokesperson for the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said the vehicle was found this week after authorities received a report of an abandoned car in the area.

Dionio said a Special Investigation Team led by Police Lt. Col. Lester Leada, BCPO deputy city director for operations, has been formed to focus on the case.

Following the car’s recovery, police identified the owner, who has been cooperating with investigators.

Dionio said the car was reportedly borrowed from the owner.

He added that authorities have two persons of interest, the gunman and the driver, but declined to release their names pending further investigation.

Dionio said no significant evidence was found in the car, which is now under safekeeping in an undisclosed location.

The victim, 50-year-old Efren Banaglorioso, was gunned down in broad daylight on Aug. 24 outside the church where he had worked for more than 30 years.

Police initially treated the case as a possible case of mistaken identity, since Banaglorioso had no criminal record, a view consistent with his family’s statements.

Dionio said in a phone interview Thursday that mistaken identity is now considered the least likely angle as the investigation progresses, though he declined to elaborate.

He added that investigators are also looking into personal grudges and other possible motives.