CAMP OSCAR FLORENDO, La Union – The manhunt for one of the suspected gunmen involved in the slaying of Mayor Julian Resuello of San Carlos City last April 30 was expanded to Metro Manila.

Police Regional Director, Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil ordered Task Force Resuello headed by Superintendent Manuel Velasco to expand the manhunt for Cesar de Guzman, alias “Cabeza” to Metro Manila where he is now possibly in hiding.

He said elements of Task Force Resuello will track down Mendoza anywhere he will go, even if the manhunt for the suspect takes them to the Visayas and Mindanao.

“We will utilize all available resources to track down the suspect, Mendoza, who is still at large and with P500,000 reward for his arrest,” Bataoil vowed.

He added that he already ordered the task force to use barangay intelligence network and force multipliers, like the civilian volunteers, in locating the suspected second gunman.

Mendoza was tagged as one of two men who shot Resuello at close range inside a crowded San Carlos City Auditorium where the coronation for Miss San Carlos City was being held on the night of April 28.

He was able to escape after the shooting by mixing with the crowd when pandemonium broke loose after the shooting.

The other suspect, Angelito Soriano, was also able to escape but was traced at Elguera Hospital on May 1 where he sought treatment for two gunshot wounds in the leg.

Both De Guzman and Soriano, including two John Does, are now facing charges of double murder and multiple frustrated murder filed by the CIDG and the National Bureau of Investigation before the Regional Trial Court in San Carlos City.

Soriano, was positively identified as one of the gunmen by SPO2 Jaime Almoite, a police security of Resuello, who is also still recuperating from his wounds at the Virgen Milagrosa Hospital in San Carlos City.