Love triangle in cop's slay?

A close aide of Virac Mayor Jose U. Alberto II reportedly waited for a Bato policeman to leave the former's home before stabbing him to death for allegedly seeing the aide's wife last week.

Police authorities initially learned of the incident at about 8:30 P.M. of November 24 after a concerned citizen informed by phone that they were passing near the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) headquarters when they saw a man lying on the concrete road whom they believed was a stabbing victim.

Responding policeman found SPO1 Gil Grageda y Palean, more or less 47 years old and a member of the Bato municipal police station, bleeding from five stab wounds in the stomach. They brought the fallen lawman to the Eastern Bicol Medical Center but he was declared dead on arrival.

Recovered at the scene of the crime were Grageda's service firearm, a snub-nosed US Smith & Wesson Cal. 38 revolver with six live bullets, a Seiko diver's watch from the cop's wrist and P920 in cash in his pocket. The items were turned over to the lawman's wife by SPO3 Francisco Rojas.

According to reliable reports, an off-duty cop who was passing by the crime scene on board his tricycle saw Bernardo "Nongnong" Tablizo, Jr. standing beside a prone Grageda, gesturing to oncoming vehicles to switch to the left lane. Another witness, the wife of a tricycle driver, allegedly saw the mayor's aide stab the policeman about five meters from the gate of the Tablizo residence. Formal statements have yet to be made by the witnesses, however.

Police sources also say that Tablizo went to the Virac police station shortly after the incident but left after ascertaining that Supt. Rande V. Rosero was not around. He has not been found since then despite a search by a team of operatives.

Unconfirmed reports say that months before the incident, Tablizo allegedly caught SPO1 Grageda and the latter's wife in an compromising situation. An enraged Tablizo allegedly hung his wife upside down infront of their children, who sought the help of their grandparents in Sta. Elena. Tablizo later left the family home to live with a widowed municipal employee, who died months later from childbirth. It is said that the suspect had already told Grageda to stop seeing the former's wife but the cop apparently chose to ignore the warning.