Police note gains in printing names of fugitive fratmen

Four days since Mayor Tomas Osmeña decided to publish the names of 10 wanted fratmen, with cash rewards to any informant leading to their arrests, the police have noted that the move has been gaining headway already.

Last Monday, the mayor announced the city is putting up a total of P600,000 reward to anyone who could provide information leading to the arrest of the fratmen who have gone into hiding after getting allegedly involved in crimes in the city.

Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau chief Paul Labra said that since the publication of these fugitive men, belonging to either the Alpha Kappa Rho and Tau Gamma Phi, the police have already began receiving information from the public about their whereabouts.

The information will still be validated but there were indications that some of these wanted fratmen are just hiding in the city.

One of the validated information resulted in the arrest Tuesday night of Santos dela Cruz, an alleged "hitman" of Akrho, said Labra, adding that the informant on this case will be the first beneficiary of the cash reward the city had put up.

Labra said he is currently processing and recommending to the city government the release of the P50,000 reward to the tipster of Dela Cruz whereabouts.

Councilor Augustus Pe, for his part, said the city would allocate further P1.2 million from this year's budget for cash rewards to informants.

He said that, aside from the 10 fratmen who have arrest warrants, there are 33 others from various gangs or fraternities, Tau Gamma, Akrho, Crips, and Bloods, who have pending cases in court also. - Flor Z. Perolina