EX-COP NABBED FOR SLAY OF RIGHTS LEADER

Police authorities here on Saturday said they arrested a former police
officer, who resembled the gunman in the murder of human rights leader
Rashid Manahan.

Chief Insp. Matthew Baccay, San Pedro police station commander, said
Dennis Fernando was arrested with another companion during a drug bust
here on Friday.

Fernando, 37, also yielded a revolver during the raid, he
said.

Baccay said they would present the former police officer before
witnesses in the Manahan murder.

Fernando denied involvement in the murder, saying he did not know the
victim and had never heard of his death.

Manahan was on his way to a forum on the series of summary executions
here on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen pumped at least four bullets
into his body.

He died while being rushed to the hospital by one of the forum
speakers, Dr. Nymia Simbulan of the Philippine Human Rights
Information Center (PhilRights).

Manahan was to drive Simbulan to the venue when he was
shot.

Baccay said the firearm recovered from Fernando would be tested to
determine if it was the same weapon used in killing Manahan.

He said policemen were optimistic that the identities of those behind
the Manahan murder could already be established.

Earlier, city police chief Supt. Conrado Laza said they were looking
at four angles in the killing of Manahan, including a love triangle.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was cautious even with the police claim that
Fernando resembled the suspect, whose description witnesses provided
police artists.

He said it would be important for the police to thoroughly check the
suspect's background.

The connection of Fernando to the Manahan killing could only be
determined if facts are established, he said.

"I want to check. We will know that if the slugs found in the victim's
body would match this," Duterte told reporters as he showed them one
of the bullets recovered from the gun seized from Fernando.

Rev. Jonathan Ulanday of the United Methodist Church, welcomed the
arrest of the suspect.

But Ulanday, Manahan's colleague in the antisummary execution
movement, said he was hoping that the police revelation about the
suspect's resemblance to the gunman was not made "for the sake of
beating the deadline."

Duterte had earlier given the police seven days from Wednesday to
solve the case .

"Whether he is the real one or not, he should be granted the basic
human rights guaranteed [for] any suspect," Ulanday told the Inquirer.