Man arrested for killing neighbor

CEBU, Philippines — Less than 36 hours after the crime, the Bantayan Municipal Police Station yesterday morning arrested in Cebu City a man accused of killing his neighbor in Barangay Sillon, Bantayan town, Cebu.

It was previously reported that on the night of March 19, the assailant identified as Lyndon Paran Bacunas, 34, shot and stabbed his neighbor Ricky Deo Sevilleno, 34, a mechanic, allegedly due to personal grudge.

According to the Police Lieutenant Aldrin Villacampa, officer-in-charge of Bantayan Municipal Police Station, they apprehended the suspect in his sister s house located behind a church in Barangay Poblacion Pardo, Cebu City around 1 P.M.

He shared that they tracked him down, after operatives continuously coordinated with the suspect s 28-year-old wife.

Villacampa added that they also monitored the area around the suspect's house to arrest him there if he returned.

It was on Friday evening, March 20, when the wife convinced her husband through social media chat to just surrender to police. When the suspect later agreed, he then revealed where he was hiding.

Around 1 A.M. yesterday, Villacampa and four other police personnel accompanied the suspect's wife and boarded a sea trip from Bantayan Island.

By 6 P.M., they arrived at Hagnaya Port and from there, they went straight to Barangay Poblacion Pardo in Cebu City where Bacunas was arrested around 6:30 A.M.

During the arrest, Villacampa said that there was no resistance. The suspect also did not admit to the crime, but only accepted the consequences of the actions he committed due to his personal grudge against the victim.

Based on the suspect s account after the incident, he fled riding on a motorcycle, which he left in an unknown barangay in Madridejos town.

Subsequently, Bacunas rented a pump boat to cross from Bantayan Island to Barangay Kawit, Medellin town, Cebu. Afterwards, he rode a habal-habal motorcycle to Barangay Hagnaya in San Remigio.

From there, he drove his own motorcycle, which he had ordered an unidentified acquaintance to prepare, and then traveled all the way to Cebu City in the afternoon of March 20.

Villacampa lauded the success of the operation.

 Nag success g yud ang among pag-adto sa ilaha ba,  he said, while also acknowledging the full cooperation of the suspect s wife that helped fast-track the arrest of her wanted husband.

Bacunas is currently detained at the custodial facility of the Bantayan Municipal Police Station, pending the completion of the corresponding documents for the murder case which will be filed tomorrow, March 23. (CEBU NEWS)