BAUANG, La Union , Philippines – A discharged member of the Philippine Navy was arrested in Barangay Calumbaya this town over the weekend for last year’s slaying of a young policeman assigned at the Special Action Force in Camp Crame.
Ilocos police director Chief Superintendent Ramon Gatan identified the suspect as Gerome Anden, the alleged gunman among the three suspects who shot PO1 Alejandro Cariño on May 22, 2008 while waiting for a ride to go back on his duty in Manila along the national highway in front of the Bauang public market.
Anden was nabbed by joint elements of La Union police, the Regional Intelligence Division headed by Senior Superintendent Agripino Javier, the Regional Special Operations Group led by Chief Inspector Julius Suriben, and the Regional Mobile Group 1 led by Inspector Michael Bautista.
Anden, along with his companions Franklin Galvan and Anthony Reyes, allegedly grabbed the .45 caliber of Cariño and shot him several times on the head and body.
The motive of the killing was personal grudge.
“The arrest of Anden is the direct result of our intensified manhunt operations against all wanted persons. This is one of the priority concerns I spelled out when I assumed as regional director,” Gatan said.
Anden and his two accomplices were charged for the murder of Cariño and became the subject of manhunt after the issuance of their warrants by Judge Ferdinand Fe of the Regional Trial Court Branch 67 in Bauang. – Jun Elias