Newsman shot in P'sinan still at ICU

Newsman shot in P'sinan still at ICU

In perhaps the best hospital in Region 1 is still recuperating the Pangasinan newspaperman who was shot last July 2 by riding-in-tandem on two motorcycles after his minor son has been manipulated to be a witness in a murder charge against the province’s governor, congressman and the newsman himself.

Atty. Toto Causing with Jaime Aquino at an ICU

The doctors of Villaflor Hospital in Dagupan City told Berteni “Toto” Cataluña Causing, the lawyer of the said newsman named Jaime G. Aquino, that they removed the left upper lobe and parts of the lower left love of the victim’s lungs.

The doctors explained that these lobes were damaged by the .45 bullet that hit Aquino on almost the middle part of his back just right above the heart.

The doctors showed to Atty. Causing the entry point of the bullet and the exit point on the left part of the chest of Aquino.

When the lawyer visited Aquino in the afternoon of July 8, 2013, plastic tubes were still in place on the part of his body to drain the blood that would have caused fatal consequences when accumulated in the lungs. 

Wires that looked like electrical circuits were still pasted on the chest of Aquino.

Jaime writhing in pain

Jaime told his lawyer that were it not for the excellence of Villaflor Hospital he could have been dead by now.

He added that Villaflor Hospital has earned the reputation as the best hospital in Region 1 because of its high efficiency in saving lives, particularly of those patients who were victims of gunshot and stab or hack wounds.

Jaime disclosed that 20 years ago, or in 1993, he was stabbed and was operated on no less than by the owner of the hospital.

The 20-year-old scars caused by the incisions were still apparent on Jaime’s body.

Up to July 8, 2013, the bills of Jaime have reached P146,000.00.

His siblings have been sourcing funds from mortgages and pledges of their precious property to pay for the bills and the pharmacy needs.

Jaime was shot at 7:10 a.m. at a waiting shed at a highway in Sta. Barbara towna. 

He was reading a newspaper and seated there when the first of the two motorcycle-riding men fired two shots at him.

Jaime told his lawyer that he was alert enough that he immediately jumped from his position to the other edge of the bench at the waiting shed.

But the second motorcycle-riding men followed up with three more shots, one of them hitting him in the back.

The gunmen fled after firing those shots and never came back.

Luckily, barangay tanods, barangay officials and kibitzers milled around the scene, ensuring the safety of the victim against the possibility of the gunmen coming back to finish him off.

Immediately, a police mobile car arrived in due time to bring Jaime to Villaflor Hospital that he personally requested despite already being hit.

Meanwhile, Jaime insisted that his minor son has been manipulated by politicians to be used as a propaganda tool against Governor Espino and Congressman Celeste.

He said the Sinumpaang Salaysay that was been made to be signed by his minor son are all false and that the alleged meetings to discuss murder plots never happened.

He stressed that if the affidavit of his son were true, he will be the first to support the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in pressing the charges of murder.

"These are false fabricated for the purpose of using the affidavit of my son in the black propaganda hoping that the opponent of Espino will win the May 2013 gubernatorial race in Pangasinan," Jaime said.

At the conclusion of the elections, Espino won with more than 600,000 votes while his challenger, Hernani Braganza obtained only 200,000 votes.

Jaime's mind revolted against the Salaysay and the high-handed abuse of the DOJ and the NBI in allowing themselves to be used that the false affidavit is now making them look bad. 

The first defect of the affidavit pointed out by Jaime is that it mentioned that he, the governor and the congressmen were present in the claimed meetings to discuss three murder plots that supposedly resulted in the death of Bayambang councilor Renato Sabangan in 2006, the death of barangay kagawad Jovencita Gazmin in June 2012 in the town of Alcala, and the death of Infanta mayor Ruperto Martinez on December 15, 2012.

Jaime pointed out that if indeed the DOJ and NBI were genuine in their concerns, they should have charged on the three killings.  "Why is it that they charge only on the death of Mayor Martinez," he asked.

The other indications of falsities in the affidavit that Jaime pointed out are: (1) it violates the nature that no father would ever bring a minor son to a meeting where the topic is how to kill another person; and (2) the claim in the Salaysay that Jestin graduated valedictorian of Mapandan Elementary School was belied by the school principal’s certification that the valedictorian was another kid and that Jestin got a general average grade of only 82.05%.