Businessman Domingo “Sandy” de Guzman is led by NBI agents to the detention cell inside the NBI compound hours after his arrest in a motel in Barangay Bukal, Dasmariñas, Cavite on December 03, 2015. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON
“Dalia is on our radar and she will be next to fall,” a ranking official of the National Bureau of Investigation said Friday, following the arrest of the suspected mastermind of the Enzo Pastor murder.
NBI-National Capital Region chief Max Salvador was referring to Dalia Guerrero-Pastor, the widow of the slain race car driver, who had reportedly gone into hiding since being tagged a suspect in her husband’s killing last year.
Dalia’s rumored lover, businessman Domingo “Sandy” de Guzman, who is also accused of plotting Pastor’s death, was arrested by NBI agents Thursday night at a motel in Cavite province.
READ: NBI nabs Sandy de Guzman
Salvador, who led the team that tracked down De Guzman, said Dalia had worked in a resort using another name but left before they could capture her.
De Guzman, meanwhile, stayed for a few days at a time at a motel, using different names when checking in, he said, adding that the suspect did this for over three months.
Their target was alone, unarmed and did not resist arrest when NBI agents entered his rented room, Salvador said. There were some canned goods and a rice cooker in the room, signs that he was planning to stay there for several days, he said.
On top of the murder charge pending against him, a case for illegally using aliases and falsified IDs may be filed by the NBI against De Guzman, he added.
The NBI official also noted that the suspect apparently tried to change his appearance by putting on weight and having a lighter skin tone. “You will not immediately recognize him (because of these changes).”
When taken to NBI headquarters in Manila, De Guzman was positively identified by Enzo Pastor’s parents, he added.
A member of the Pastor family lauded the NBI for the arrest and expressed hope that Dalia would also land in jail soon.
“We would like to thank Philippine law enforcement, especially the NBI, for the successful capture of De Guzman and for never giving up on our case,” said the victim’s mother, Remy. “It is our family’s fervent wish that the truth come out and justice for our son be finally done so that we can start to heal.”
The warrant for De Guzman’s arrest on charges of murder was issued Aug. 5 by Judge Luisito Cortez of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 85.
According to documents reaching the court Friday, De Guzman was arrested in Barangay Bukal, Sampaloc II, Dasmariñas, Cavite (not Silang, as earlier reported).
In another statement, the Pastor family drew attention to a petition filed by Dalia in the Court of Appeals questioning her arrest warrant. The petition, they noted, was notarized in Davao City.
Yet according to the Interpol, they said, she has been staying in Indonesia since last year.
In September, Enzo’s parents offered a P1-million reward for the arrest of Dalia and De Guzman.
Enzo Pastor was driving a truck when he was shot dead by a motorcycle-riding gunman at a Quezon City intersection on the night of June 12, 2014.
READ: Enzo Pastor nanny: Alleged slay brains often visited Dalia
A Pasay City policeman arrested for the killing first confessed to being the hired killer and implicated Dalia and De Guzman. P02 Edgar Angel later retracted his statements, claiming he was tortured by the police into confessing, but this didn’t stop the Department of Justice from filing murder charges against him. With reports from Krizia Jamille Yap
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