Vagrant arrested for abducting, selling child 20 years ago

A vagrant who abducted and sold the two-year-old child of a young couple in Marikina some 20 years ago was arrested in Caloocan City by the victims’ neighbor yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Virgilio Espija, officer-in-charge of the Caloocan City police, identified the suspect as Charlie Ampungan, 58, a native of Sipocot, Camarines Sur, with no permanent address.

Ampungan was collared at the Victory Liner Compound in Barangay 72, Monumento, Caloocan City at around 11 a.m. yesterday. A citizen’s arrest was made by Stephen Alvarado, 36, a former neighbor of victims Ramil and Cherry Basas.

Alvarado said he would never forget the face of the suspect, who spirited Basa’s eldest child Randy, then two-years-old, and sold him for P40 to a couple in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Ampungan said he had forgotten the names of those who bought the child.

The real father, now a resident of Muzon, San Jose del Monte City, told reporters Ampungan, a passing acquiantance, took his son from him sometime in 1986 and never showed his face again.

Basa said he has never stopped looking for his son after 20 years.

In a confrontation at the Caloocan City police headquarters, Ampungan admitted his crime before Basa.

The suspect said he initially had no intention of selling the child. He said he took the boy with him because he wanted to have a son of his own.

"But I wanted him in a safe and secure place," he said.

Basa said he looks forward to seeing his long lost son even with the prospect of not being recognized.

"Di ko alam kung ano ang nararamdaman ko. Galit, tuwa. Imposibleng tanggihan niya ako. Anak, magkikita na rin tayo sa wakas," he said.

Basa said only felt pity for the suspect.

Ampungan has been turned over to the custody of the Marikina police.

The incident happened along Panorama St., in SSS Village in Marikina where the Basas rented a house after their house in the slum community on BIR Road, Quezon City was demolished.

Houseboy gets death

A court sentenced a houseboy to death yesterday for raping and killing a woman in Quezon City almost three years ago.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Ma. Theresa Yadao found Walde Villarente guilty of raping and strangling Amelda Acero in an apartment unit in Barangay Paligsahan on Aug. 25, 2003.

She said the decision was based on Villarente’s confession, the overwhelming evidence presented by the prosecution and fully-corroborative statements of witnesses. 

"The totality of the aforementioned circumstances convinced the court that the accused, and no other, was the author of the crime," she said. 

The court also ordered Villarente to pay P105, 948 to the heirs of Acero for indemnification, and actual and moral damages. 

A day before the commission of the crime, Acero and the accused, along with two other companions, were engaged in a drinking session at the apartment being leased by the victim’s sister-in-law.

Villarente worked as a houseboy for the sister-in-law.

On Aug. 26, the victim’s lifeless body was discovered inside a nylon sack outside the apartment. 

Villarente initially pleaded "not guilty," but after the arraignment, he changed his plea to "guilty," the court said.

The victim’s mother testified before the court that Villarente had admitted to her of his crime when she visited him in detention at Camp Karingal. – With Katherine Adraneda