DOJ reopens 2002 murder case vs Bernoses

Fourteen years after the killing of driver-mechanic Joel Afos in La Paz, Abra, government prosecutors in Ilocos Norte have reopened the case against a powerful and influential political family. Logo photo courtesy of gov.ph   The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Laoag City recently resolved to revive the murder case against Andres Bernos and his son Joseph, both of La Paz, Abra. Afos, also known as “Mateo Afos,” who was the 23-year-old driver-mechanic of the Bernos family. When his body was recovered in Soot River in Bangued, Abra, on Jul. 18, 2001, it bore multiple bullet wounds, records show. Records also showed that the Bernoses were tagged as suspects in the murder, but during the preliminary investigation, Jacobo Badua, the Bernos’ family’s driver, accompanied by a lawyer, confessed to the killing prompting the Provincial Prosecutor of La Union, then handling the case, to drop the murder suit against the father-and-son. On [...]