Suspects in kidnap of 8 DENR personnel face arrest

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – A local judge has issued an arrest warrant for a group of Manobos behind the abduction of eight personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here last October.

Judge Edgar Manile of Regional Trial Court Branch 33 ordered law enforcers in the Caraga region to arrest Leonardo Behing, Anabel Dagium and the other Manobo suspects.

In his two-page resolution approved by Butuan City prosecutor Felix Guiritan, assistant prosecutor Lemuel Alegado said there was probable cause to indict Behing, Dagium and the other Manobo suspects for kidnapping with serious illegal detention for snatching the eight DENR personnel manning a checkpoint in Barangay Anticala on the morning of Oct. 21 last year.

The DENR put up the checkpoint to monitor illegal logging and mining within the Taguibo watershed, which is the only source of potable water for nearly 300,000 residents of this city and its environs.