Crime gang boss falls

MANILA, Philippines - The alleged leader of a crime gang operating in southern Metro Manila and two of his reported henchmen were arrested in Cavite yesterday.

Ronaldo Santiago – who reportedly leads the Onad Gang, “the most notorious” gang in Metro Manila – was caught along with Aldrick Perez and Joseph Hilario in a house at Maragondon at around 3 a.m., Senior Police Officer 4 Charlie Bayoca said.

They were sleeping at the time, Bayoca said, adding that the suspects “did not resist arrest although they tried to escape through the back door.”

Parañaque police chief Senior Superintendent Billy Beltran said police officers initially intended to arrest Perez, who was caught on surveillance camera footage breaking into a house in Barangay Don Bosco and poking a gun at the owner on April 4.

“It just happened that Onad was there so we arrested him, too,” Beltran said in a separate interview.

Bad to the bone?

Santiago is the subject of 15 arrest warrants and accused in at least 41 cases of robbery, drug pushing and carjacking, as well as being a gun for hire. He was arrested by the Pasay City police in 2011 but was able to post bail.

In yesterday’s raid, police officers confiscated a 9mm Taurus pistol, a .380 caliber pistol, a .45 caliber Colt Commander, a hand grenade; a .22 caliber rifle, an airgun tank and assorted magazines and ammunition from Santiago.

Beltran said Santiago will undergo inquest proceedings at the Parañaque prosecutor’s office on illegal gun possession charges before they turn him over to police officers in Batangas, where he is being tried for double murder by Tanauan Regional Trial Court Judge Marjorie Uyengco-Nolasco.

Santiago also faces drug charges with the Department of Justice for a drug bust in Biñan, Laguna in December 2011; illegal gun possession charges before a Pasay City court; and car theft charges before Las Piñas and Makati courts.

Seen in Makati shootouts

Santiago was tagged in two shootouts in Makati City on Aug. 10, 2011, which left two of his alleged members – Mark Joseph Ferrer and Dave Garcia – and PO1 Mudzil Alih Balawag dead.

Another policeman, Chief Inspector Joselito Savares of the Regional Police Intelligence and Operating Unit (RPIOU), was wounded in the right armpit.

Police recovered five firearms from the two slain car theft suspects.

The first gunfight happened between police officers and three alleged members of the Onad Gang at around 4 a.m. at the parking lot of the Philippine Development Assistance Program building in Barangay Pio del Pilar.

An informant tipped off police that members of the gang were to meet at the parking lot before staging a carjacking. As three police officers approached the parking lot, a shot rang out, triggering a gunfight that resulted in the death of one of the gang men.

A silver-gray Ford Escape (ZBK-640) was recovered in the area.

Three hours later, Savares and his team, including Balawag, conducted a follow-up operation near the area amid reports that several gang members were hiding near a creek.

Savares said they saw one of the suspects shoot a scavenger they accused of revealing their whereabouts to lawmen.

A second shootout ensued and the suspect was killed, but not before hitting Balawag and Savares.