Slay suspect in NPA refuge?

BUTUAN CITY — An Army sergeant wanted for the Jan. 17 killing of the commanding officer of the Army’s 10th Artillery Battalion may have sought refuge in the camp of a New People’s Army (NPA) unit operating at the boundary of the two Surigao provinces.

Officers of the 4th Infantry based at Camp Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro City raised this possibility after the wife of fugitive Sgt. Nelson Malasarte, Army Cpl. Myra Malasarte, who works at the 4th ID hospital, was reported to be missing, too.

Malasarte was tagged in the killing of Lt. Col. Eduardo Castillo Peralta, commanding officer of the Army’s 10th Artillery Battalion.

Peralta was found dead behind the headquarters of his battalion at Camp Evangelista. 

Reports said Malasarte got angry after Peralta allegedly clobbered him in front of his wife. — Ben Serrano