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Military men suspected
in UST student’s slay
By Christian V. Esguerra
Inquirer News
Service
RELATED STORY:
Pa of
slain UST student seeks help of witnesses (March 26,
2001)
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MARK Chua’s family
suspect soldiers
are
behind his killing. |
THE FATHER of
slain University of Sto. Tomas student Mark Chua has urged
investigators to look into the possible involvement of soldiers and
another UST student in the abduction and murder of his son Mark
Chua.
Mark’s father
Welson Chua on Monday said investigators should zero in on this
angle as he noted that not a single witness has surfaced more than
week after the murder of the young man who exposed alleged
corruption in the school’s ROTC program.
Chua said a
morgue official told him that Mark could have been murdered by
"someone with military background."
Chua quoted the
morgue official as saying: "I’ve seen all kinds of murder, but
Mark’s case is different. It could have only been done by a
professional, someone with military background."
Police
investigators believe it was a revenge killing and have given up on
the kidnap-for-ransom angle.
Investigation
showed Mark, a 19-year-old sophomore mechanical engineering student
at UST, was still alive when he was thrown into the Pasig River.
Mark’s hands and feet were tied and his face was wrapped in cloth
and packing tape.
Mark’s face had
been covered with cloth before it was wrapped with tape to allow the
murky waters of the Pasig River seep into Mark’s lungs, thus
prolonging his agony, Chua said.
"This is a
clear case of revenge," Chua quoted investigators as saying. "A
kidnapper’s priority is ransom, not the victim’s death."
The autopsy
report showed there was sludge in Mark’s lungs, indicating he was
alive when he was thrown into the river.
Mark’s
decomposing body was fished out of the Pasig River on March 18,
three days after he was last seen alive and weeks after he blew the
whistle on the alleged irregularities at the UST-ROTC where he was a
ranking officer.
His exposé
resulted in the relief of Maj. Demy Tejares and his staff.
Chua theorized
that his son’s killers were not the same people who abducted him. He
said he believes the suspects used a UST student to set up the
abduction.
Mark, a member
of the ROTC’s intelligence network, was supposed to meet an "agent"
when he disappeared on March 15.
Chua said his
son could not have been kidnapped easily since he usually did not
work alone or go with people he did not know.
Chua said Mark
was very conscious of his security after he received death threats
following his revelations of corruption.
Mark had been
undergoing security training in Fort Bonifacio several weeks before
the abduction, as advised by the new ROTC commandant, the father
said.
"Someone close
to Mark could have betrayed him," Chua said. | 
Wed. Mar. 28, 2001, Philippines 
Military men suspected in UST student’s slay