According to investigator Police Officer 2 Robert Miclat, a concerned local resident phoned the police about six suspicious-looking men openly stealing cables along the highway at around 1 p.m.
A team of officers was dispatched and Lito Sapingaw and Bayani Mallari were arrested after a brief chase. Four of their cohorts managed to flee.
Miclat said the thieves were stealing telephone wire owned by Bayan Telecommunications, Inc. Police seized over 12,000 meters of telephone wire and a steel saw from Sapingaw and Mallari. — Jerry Botial