Arrested ex-NE mayor brought to Manila police

MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City police operatives brought yesterday morning a former mayor of Gapan, Nueva Ecija wanted for the 2006 killing of five people, to the Manila Police District (MPD) for his turnover to the warrant section.

However, Senior Superintendent Ronald Estilles, MPD deputy district director for operations, refused to accept custody of former Mayor Ernesto Natividad, saying the court should decide on the matter.

Natividad was arrested while undergoing dialysis in a Quezon City hospital last Thursday afternoon.

Natividad was arrested on the strength of a warrant issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 8 Judge Felixberto Olalia in February last year, for the killing of brothers Eric and Emerson Pascual and three others in a cockpit in Gapan town on March 20, 2006.

A P3-million reward had been offered for the former mayor’s arrest.

The arrest was a joint operation of the Quezon City Police District and the intelligence group of the National Capital Region Police Office led by Senior Superintendent Elmer Pelobello.

Acting on information, the arresting team pounced on Natividad while he was undergoing dialysis at the Urology Center of the Philippines. The warrant was served after he was finished with the dialysis.

Estilles said there is a procedure that should be followed before the MPD could accept custody of Natividad.

“He should be brought to the hospital first and he has to be checked and issued a certification that he is in good condition since it will be our responsibility,” he said.

Natividad’s lawyer, Freddie Villamor, said they requested that his client be transferred to the MPD for humanitarian reason since his trial would be held in Manila and they would like to confine him in the nearest hospital.

Villamor said Natividad is suffering from diabetes and they would like to seek a doctor’s clearance that he is not fit to be detained.

Natividad was taken to the Manila Doctors Hospital after Estilles turned down Villamor’s request, but he was escorted by MPD policemen.

However, there were reports yesterday afternoon that MDH doctors had issued a certificate in favor of Natividad’s hospital arrest and that the MPD had taken custody of him.

Dr. Maricel Natividad, daughter of the former mayor, alleged that her father’s being tagged in the killing and his subsequent arrest were politically motivated.