Claudine slay suspects fall

Two of the suspects in the rape-slay of 21-year-old De la Salle University graduate Claudine Mabel Feliciano have been arrested by a composite team of the Philippine National Police.

Chief Superintendent Manuel Cabigon, director of the Southern Police District, is set to present the two suspects today at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.

Parañaque police arrested the first suspect, Ernesto Berry, a welder of Barangay Bayanan, Muntinlupa City.

It was revealed that the suspects were disclosed by an informant who approached Parañaque Mayor Joey Marquez.

Marquez said the informant was a friend of the suspects to whom they had related the facts of the case.

Superintendent Ronald Estilles, chief of the Parañaque police, led the team that arrested Berry in his hideout last Thursday in Muntinlupa City.

The second suspect was arrested yesterday in Cagayan province.

Superintendent Ricardo Padilla, provincial director of the Cagayan police, identified the suspect as Alejandro Versosa alias "Boy Tisoy" of Purok 6, Muntinlupa City.

Versosa was nabbed by a joint team of policemen led by Estilles in his hideout in Sitio Samat, South Centro, Sta. Ana, Cagayan. Padilla said the suspect had been involved in similar cases in Metro Manila in the past.

Feliciano, abducted last March 10, was found dead the following day in a creek in San Antonio Valley, Parañaque City.

After the discovery, another woman surfaced claiming to be the second victim of the same suspects who murdered Feliciano.

Fastfood service crew member Janet Bales reportedly escaped from her would-be abductors while she was waiting for a ride during the early hours of March 12 near the Multinational Village in Sucat, Parañaque City.

Bales claimed that she escaped by screaming for help and running towards a group of bystanders.

Parañaque police also reported a missing person case involving another girl who could be the third victim of the rape-slay suspects.

Prior to the arrest of the suspects, the PNP together with the National Bureau of Investigation had been working on a lead involving rich kids after the recovery of Feliciano’s black Mazda sedan in Magallanes, Makati City last March 13. The car was reportedly used by the suspects in their kidnap spree.

Bales positively identified the car as the same one used by four men who tried to abduct her.

During the presentation of the first suspect at Marquez’s office yesterday, Bales positively identified Berry as one of the men who tried to abduct her.