Murder suspect arrested after more than a decade

MANILA, Philippines - After more than 10 years in hiding, a dismissed policeman was arrested Thursday in Ilocos Sur for the killing of a neighbor and the wounding of his son in 1999.

The suspect, former SPO2 Leoncio Fagela, did not resist arrest when men of Chief Superintendent Constante Azares Jr., Ilocos regional police director, cornered him in Barangay Borobor, Sto. Domingo town past noon Thursday.

Azares said Fagela was nabbed on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by Judge Dominador Arquelada of the Vigan City Regional Trial Court Branch 21.

Fagela was the prime suspect in the killing of Dennis Natividad and the wounding of his son, Louie, on Oct. 29, 1999 in Sto. Domingo town.

Records showed that family feud was tagged as the motive behind the attack on the Natividads.

Azares said Fagela was dismissed from the police service as soon as the murder and frustrated murder charges were filed against him. He went into hiding and was listed as one of the most wanted persons in Ilocos Sur.

Police said Fagela is also implicated in three other murder cases in Ilocos Sur.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government had offered a P140,000 reward for Fagela’s arrest.

Azares said an informant led operatives of the regional police intelligence division, Regional Special Operations Group and the Sto. Domingo police to Fagela’s hiding place.

Fagela, a former aide of a former Ilocos Sur town mayor, gave himself up peacefully.

Azares said Fagela chose to remain silent on the charges against him.