Cop in policeman’s slay surrenders

MANILA, Philippines — The gunman in the killing of a police corporal in Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur on July 1 has been arrested, the Philippine National Police announced yesterday.

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said the gunman’s cohort, a police staff sergeant, also surrendered after investigators established his involvement through closed-circuit television backtracking, intelligence gathering, forensic examination and witness interviews.

Nartatez said the staff sergeant is assigned to the Margosatubig municipal police station in Zamboanga del Sur. He surrendered his firearm and the motorcycle used during the killing, Nartatez said.

Meanwhile, a former policeman wanted for murder surrendered to the Western Visayas police regional office in Iloilo City yesterday, ending more than four years of evading arrest.

The suspect, identified only as Jerry, was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Iloilo Regional Trial Court Branch 31 on April 26, 2022. No bail was recommended.

Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño, Western Visayas police chief, said the former officer had previously eluded an attempt by the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group to serve the warrant.

“According to him, he decided to surrender because he wanted to face the case and put an end to the problem he has been dealing with,” Tuaño said.