*449. Unsolved: THE JOVENS OF BACOLOR DOUBLE MURDER CASE, 23 April 1946

FATHER AND SON Edilberto and Ricardo, died in an 1946 ambush in Bacolor, allegedly committed
by the governor's body guards. The double murder remains unsolved, Photos: June TiglaoTuazon.

Seventy seven years ago, one of the most horrifying killings in Pampanga’s crime history happened in Bacolor, resulting in the deaths of members of  one the town’s most prominent families: 62 year old EDILBERTO JOVEN and his son RICARDO, age 24. Edilberto’s brother, FRANCISCO, 55, lived to tell the tale of this brutal murder, that has remained unsolved to this day, and that a cover-up was made to protect the masterminds.

The elder Joven, an Ateneo graduate, was a pharmaceutical chemist by profession. His father was Francisco Casas Joven, brother of Ceferino C. Joven, the first Civil Governor of Pampanga in 1901. In 1906, he married Margarita Palma, who died in 1919 and left him with 5 children. That same year, he was elected mayor of Bacolor, and was elected for a 2^nd term in 1922. By then, he had taken a second wife, Elena Samia, with whom her had 4 children; Ricardo or Carding, a law student,  was the eldest and only son from that union.

 After his mayoral stint, he worked for the Bureau of Internal Revenue as a drug inspector from 1924 to 1928. On the side, he joined groups like Recreativa Filantrofica, Ding Aficionados Bacolod and Ing Parnasung Capampangan for social and literary pursuits.

 In 1931, Joven re-joined politics by becoming the Provincial Board secretary, and 2 years later, during the term of Governor Pablo Angeles-David, Joven was named Assistant Director of the Pampanga Carnival of 1933 by the governor himself. His return to the political arena and party loyalty shift could have caused his untimely death and that of his son Carding.

 Joven has had a brush with violence before. In 1915,  a seemingly-sick cousin, Angel Joven, armed with a pocket knife, assaulted him while crossing the street, inflicting serious bodily injuries.

 But that fateful event in 1946 was different, as it was deadlier, and many believed, to be politically motivated for it coincided with the national elections. Joven, by 1945, was the President of the newly-formed Pampanga Democratic Alliance,  a leftist party that counts the National Peasants Union of the Hukbalahap, the Committee of Labor Organizations of the local Communist Party and the Filipino Blue Eagle Guerrillas as members, threw their support behind incumbent Sergio Osmeña’s presidential bid.

 On the distaff side was Pablo Angeles David who cast his lot on Senate Pres. Manuel Roxas of the Liberal Party. David had the unfortunate experience of being kidnapped twice by the Hukbalahaps in 1944 and 1945, by HMB Commander Silvestre Liwanag or “Kumander Bie”, that caused him so much suffering. Though he came back alive, the Japanese Kempeitai, seized him, believing he was now working for the HMB. His arrest would profoundly affect his wife Concepcion’s health, who died on Christmas Eve, 1944. It is no wonder then that as acting post-war Pampanga governor,  he took a hard stance against the Hukbalahap/HMB, driving them to the mountains and the hinterlands though intense pacification operations.

 As the Police Report recounted that on 23 April 1946, about 9:15 p.m., shots were heard coming from the direction of barrio Tinajero. When officers responded to the scene, they saw a parked jeep behind the Bacolor Elementary School. Searching further, they found the bodies of Edilberto, his son Ricardo, and Francisco, sprawled on afield some 100 meters away from the jeep. Miraculously, Francisco was alive, but barely, and he was rushed to the hospital where he was able to give a statement to the authorities, led by a certain Sgt. Pineda and the Chief of Police.

 In his account, Francisco  said that “on their way home just a few paces from the gate of Bacolor Elementary School, 3 masked men and armed with Thompson asked them to turn back their jeep where they came from. They made them walk about 100 yards into the rice fields where they were shot.” There appeared to be no motive for the killing, as the police stated at that time—2 days after the shooting--and the assailants remained unidentified.

 In October, 6 months after the killing, a certain Sgt. Ricardo Ocampo, an investigator of the 11^th Military Police Co., stationed in Lubao surfaced, with a signed affidavit attesting to his knowledge of the crime and the perpetrators behind it. He identified the killers as bodyguards of the present governor, Pablo Angeles David. In his explosive revelation, he said that a day after the murder, he met with Eliong and asked him about the murder case.

 Eliong alleged to have boasted that together with Nanding, and their companion bodyguards, carried out the plan, and that he shot the father-and-son Jovens with the submachine gun that caused their instant deaths. He shot the wounded Francisco again after noticing he was feigning his death. He said he wanted to shoot all of them on their heads, but Nanding was rushing to leave the scene, so Eliong was not able to do so.

 A few days after, Ocampo said he met with Nanding in San Fernando, who was en route to Manila. Ocampo confronted him about the Joven killings, pretending to praise him for his actions. At this, Nanding told him he already knew who Ocampo’s source was—the looselipped Eliong. Nanding admitted the killing, then afterwards, exacted from Ocampo the promise to keep secret their conversations.

At the military headquarters, Ocampo saw Nanding again who approached him and advised him to tell the Gov. Angeles the source of his version of the story so that the governor himself would know what to do with Eliong.

 After talking to the other bodyguards, Ocampo came to discover and conclude that Eliong and Nanding wanted to take credit for the Joven killings, that was allegedly ordered by the governor himself. Thus, by eliminating the opposition, victory would be assured for Roxas and Liberal Party candidates in Bacolor.

Sgt. Ocampo also managed to trick Lt. Ildefonso Paredes, Detachment Commander of the 111^th Military Police Co., into admitting his role in the plot, by bragging about being far better than the commander, having solved the case by himself.

 To this, Lt. Paredes allegedly retorted: “You don’t think that I know what happened? Do you believe my boys? I told you you could rely on them.” As a proof of his connivance, Lt. Paredes said that he did not go directly to the scene of the crime when summoned, but drove around different barrios to give the bodyguards more time to escape.

 Ocampo ended his narrative with a recommendation to confiscate the Thompson guns of the Gov. Angeles, fire them, have the shells examined by ballistic experts, and then compare them with the bullet shells found at the murder scene. He is certain that the tests will prove that one of the governor’s Thompsons was used in the commission of the crime.

 Despite these damning revelations pointing to the direct involvement of the governor, his bodyguards, and the collusion of the police, Sgt. Ocampo’s affidavit seemed to have been conveniently ignored. The investigation did not prosper, no arrests were ever made, and the double murder of the Jovens of Bacolor remains a cold case to this day, leaving a Joven descendant to observe: “When people in power are involved, expect a cover up. Politics then, as now, has not changed.”

 (MANY THANKS to June Joven Tiglao and Nona Joven Lim, for the photos, materials and additional information).

Ninu't Ninu Qng Kapampangan, 1936

448. Capt. RUFO C. ROMERO: How A Kapampangan West Pointer Became America’s Betrayer

Capt. RUFO ROMERO, convicted military spy, Kapampangan

In late November of 1940, a West Point graduate was convicted of espionage-- at that time, the first and only alumnus of the prestigious United States Military Academy to be court-martialed and charged for attempting to sell classified maps to Japan, via an intermediary. The military officer, Rufo C. Romero, also happens to be a Kapampangan, the illegitimate son of a poor woman with an unknown partner, who, some tongue wags say, was a priest.

Nevertheless, Romero grew up an intelligent child, finishing his secondary education at the Pampanga High School, class of 1926, where he was also a top Cadet Officer. However, it was at the University of the Philippines that  his brilliance showed, leading to an appointment at West Point. He graduated in 1931 with flying colors,  ranking 17th in his class—an incredible feat for a Filipino who, lumped with African-Americans, were considered as minorities.

Armed also with a civil engineering degree from the University of California, Romero seemed bound for an illustrious military career. He found love in the U.S., marrying 17 year old Lorraine Becker of Bronx, New York, before being sent back to the Philippines to serve as captain to the Philippine  Scouts.

The commander of the Philippine Scouts 14th Engineer Regiment recalls that Capt. Romero  was among the U.S. Army's most knowledgeable experts on the topography, road and trail network and defensive positions on Bataan.

Romero would also have known the value of such information to the Japanese and other foreign powers even long before the 1941 Philippine invasion ; there have been several cases in the past where confidential fortification blueprints of Corregidor and Bataan where stolen, lost,  or copied, clearly for use in military espionage. There was circumstantial evidence to suggest that Romero could very well be a spy, thus, a sting operation was hatched by the U.S. Army to entrap him.

The Army drew up a plan where a supposed Japanese-colluding Mindanao sultan was out on the market looking for such maps and classified documents. Romero, along with alleged civilian accomplices Ignacio Agbay and Mariano Cabrera, had photographed copies of Corregidor and Bataan defense maps, which the captain then attempted to sell for $25,000.

It was in this dramatic way that Romero was arrested, and court-martialed at Fort McKinley in November, 1940. By the 24th, he was found guilty of giving secret maps related to national defense to unauthorized persons, a violation of the Articles of War 96.

Professing his innocence, he volunteered to undergo any kind of brain operation that would erase his memories and recollections regarding military matters,  a last-ditch effort to save his tarnished reputation. Romero  was dishonorably discharged, lost all his pay allowances, and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor at McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington State. His wife, Lorraine, who had connived with him, was not charged.

After Romero served his time in prison, he left the United States to build a new career in the academe back in the Philippines. He taught engineering subjects at the National University  in Sampaloc, Manila, where students remember him as an amiable professor who likes engaging people in friendly conversations. Further distancing himself from his past, he went to Africa and Spain, where his tainted reputation was relatively unknown, and found some engineering jobs.

All this time, his notorious deed led his many fellow Filipinos to ask:  what makes a man of intelligence become a spy? What drives him to become a betrayer of his country, his family, and conscience? The world will never know as Rufo C. Romero  passed away in Spain on 3 January 1985, leaving behind his wife and 3 children in the U.S., remaining quiet about this one act of treachery that changed the course of their lives.

SOURCES:

Scott Harrison;s Espionage Page: https://corregidor.org/crypto/chs_crypto1/sting1.htm

West Point grad convicted for attempting to sell maps of fortifications to a foreign power: https://militarycorruption.com/romero/

Time Magazine: The Philippines: Spy Trial, 2 December 1940

Board of Review Holdings, Opinions and Reviews, https://books.google.com.ph/

 

*394. Cuts Like A Knife: AVELINA TEODORO, PAMPANGA'S YOUNG MURDERESS, 16

A CASE OF BACK-STABBING.. The cold-blooded murder of Constancia Pineda was perpetrated by her neighbor and supposed-friend, Avelina Teodoro of San Fernando. Both were just 16 years old. Inspite of her youth, Avelina was meted out a life sentence. From Graphic Magazine, Dec. 1929.

Poring over the files of some of the most sensational crimes of the past decades, I could not help but notice the involvement of Kapampangans in several high-profile cases—both as victims and perpetrators. I was horrified at the 1964 kidnapping of Maryknoller Cosette Tanjuaquio of Guagua in the hands of Orador Pingol and Nomer Jingco, who hid her in a pit for 83 days, and appalled at the still- unsolved "chop-chop" murder of Lucial Lalu of Candaba. Then there’s Jaime Jose, son of a prominent Kapampangan doctor, who was electrocuted in 1972 along with 2 others, for the crime committed against actress Maggie dela Riva’s virtue.

 Going back even further, I dug up a 1929 news report of a gruesome murder committed by a Kapampangan. It was shocking enough that the offender was a woman, but worse still that she was but a girl of 16!

 The full account on a December issue of Graphic Magazine reads as follows:

Sixteen year old Avelina Teodoro, of San Fernando, self-confessed murderer of her classmate, Constancia Pineda, also 16 years old, broke down when the sentence sending her to prison for life was read to her. Last September, Constancia’s body was found on the grounds of the Arayat Elementary School, pierced with a score of knife wounds. 

After some difficulties in the tracing of the murderer, the fingerprints on the body and the blood stains on Avelina’s clothing and books point out to the author of the crime. At first, Avelina denied the crime, pointing to Hilario Lugtu as the murderer, but confronted with the clues discovered, she confessed to the crime.

 What drove Avelina to kill her classmate? What was the motive? Was she really capable of murder? 

There were so many information gaps in the news report that I did more sleuthing and searching for facts about the 86 year-old case. Surely, all the characters of the case have passed on, but my curiosity had to be satiated.

 An online search yielded a transcript of an appeal filed by the defendant-appellant Avelina Teodoro with the Supreme Court on 12 August 1930. The documentation carried details of the crime, as the court reviewed the sentence imposed by the Court of First Instance of Pampanga on Avelina-- life imprisonment, plus P1,000 indemnity to the deceased's heirs for the crime of murder.

 It appeared that Avelina had indeed held a grudge against Constancia—she had been spreading shameful rumors about her, and opening her letters without her permission. This, Avelina confided to Hilario Lugtu. Avelina alleged that Lugtu told her that “he will take care of Constancia”. Allegedly,  Lugtu also asked Avelina to take Constancia to the closed Anderson Intermediate School. It was inside the toilet of the school that Constancia’s body was found with 37 stab wounds on her body. 

Two witnesses however, provided unimpeachable eyewitness accounts to the events leading to the murder. The first, Cristino Reyes, testified that on 19 September 1929, appellant Avelina borrowed his single-edge penknife, which matched the size of the wounds on Constancia’s body. When he tried to retrieve the knife, Avelina told him it had been inadvertently lost.

 More damaging was the testimony of witness Maximo Bundoc, who saw Avelina and Constancia on the day of the murder. He heard “the smaller girl” Constancia saying “In this world there's no devil like one's neighbor." This, she repeated to Avelina, “the bigger girl”. Complaining of a stomach ache, Avelina convinced Constancia to go inside the water closet of the school. It was the last time Bundoc saw the “small girl” alive , for the next day, her body would be discovered.

 This testimony of Bundoc corroborated the defendant Avelina's admission that she, herself,  was with the victim on the day of the crime. It was likewise shown that a finger of the defendant's left hand had become stained with Constancia's blood, and that her notebook had also been stained. Avelina was also seen walking hurriedly away from the crime scene, and when she was arrested by the Chief of Police Mutuc, bloodstains were noted on her dress.

 The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the lower court without modifications for the crime of murder. It also upheld the imposed penalty of  medium degree as fixed by the law, because the culprit was a woman—life imprisonment. The judgment appealed from was affirmed, with the costs of both instances against poor Avelina.

 Thus ended the sad, sorry tale of the young Kapampangan murderess, Avelina Teodoro, who tried to get away with murder, but got life behind bars instead.