School Head Flees After Being Linked to Murder

The president of a state-run university here has gone into hiding after police linked him to the 2007 murder of a government auditor.

Superintendent Jonathan Perez, acting city police director, said Friday they now consider Enrie Caraecle, president of the Zamboanga State College Marines Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST), a fugitive.

Caraecle, said the police chief, is now "one of the most wanted persons in this city."

The university head was identified by an arrested suspect as the mastermind in the killing of lawyer Vilma Aguias, legal department chief of the Commission on Audit (COA) in Western Mindanao, on August 2 last year.

Aguias was on her way to work when attacked by three men in Tetuan village.

Eduardo Tan, alias "Jun Kabayo," who was arrested shortly after the incident, said it was Caraecle who hired and ordered them to kill Aguias.

A police officer implicated in the crime, Arthur Gomez, was also arrested but he escaped from detention and has gone into hiding.

Perez said witnesses identified Gomez as the one responsible for planning the murder and Tan as the gunman.

He said the motive behind Aquias' murder was to silence her after she discovered alleged anomalies involving Caraecle. Aquias was instrumental in having charges filed against the school official before the Ombudsman.

Perez said because of these leads, they filed murder charges against Caraecle and the suspects.

On April 1, the court issued a warrant of arrest against the school official.

But he said Caraecle might have been informed prior to the issuance of the warrant because he disappeared from the city on March 25, shortly after the graduation rites of the school.

"We have already coordinated with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Manila and the Zamboanga Sibugay police. We were informed he went to Manila and that he has relatives in Zamboanga Sibugay," Perez said.