Reward for arrest of jeweler son raised to P4M

The reward for information leading to the arrest of a scion of a wealthy family wanted for killing of two brothers three years ago in Calamba, Laguna, has been raised from P2 million to P4 million, authorities said Saturday. Jose Maria S. Panlilio, 55, son of the late socialite jeweler Fe S. Panlilio, has been the subject of a manhunt by police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) since July 15, 2003 after being tagged as suspect in the shooting to death of half-brothers Ariel Real and Albert Gutierrez on Initially, the government with the approval of the Department of the Interior of Local Government (DILG) provided P1-million reward. The two brothers’ mother, lawyer Carmencita de Castro, kicked in P1 million. De Castro’s lawyer friends also donated P20,000. Recently, the government added another P1 million while de Castro again provided additional P1 million, bringing the bounty to over P4 million. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the hunt for Panlilio amid reports he could be hiding in the US. Case records showed that on July 15, 2003, Real and Gutierrez met with Panlilio after the latter offered to sell them his Kia Starex van, which he had pawned to a friend for P250,000. The three on board a Mitsubishi Pajero (CST 191) were supposed to redeem the Starex but Panlilio led the brothers to Palacio Real Subdivision in Barangay (village) Makiling, Laguna, where he allegedly shot them to death The suspect, whose last known address was 1686 Dasmariñas Avenue, Dasmariñas Village, in Makati City, also reportedly robbed the victims of P250,000. He is wanted for robbery with homicide case pending before the Calamba Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 36; violations of Batas Pambansa Bilang 22 (antibouncing check law) with the Mandaluyong MTC Branch 60 and Quezon City MTC Branch 36 and estafa with the Mandaluyong RTC Branch 214. 9- GMANews.TV