Cop in Quezon rubout nabbed

MANILA, Philippines - A police superintendent tagged in the alleged rubout in Atimonan, Quezon that left 13 people killed has been arrested in Pampanga, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima said yesterday.

The arrest of Superintendent Ramon Balauag came five months after he went missing from the custody of the Camp Crame.

Purisima said Balauag had just arrived from Doha, Qatar when PNP intelligence agents arrested him at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport on Wednesday.

Balauag was relieved as chief of the Quezon police intelligence unit after the killings. He has been marked AWOL or absent without official leave since July 8 and had refused to make contact with his superiors. 

Two other suspects, Police Officers 2 Nelson Indal and Al Bhazar Jailani went missing on Aug. 8 and 16, respectively, but both surfaced later.

Balauag was among the police officers led by Superintendent Hanzel Marantan and a group of soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Battalion accused of killing the group of alleged jueteng lord Vic Siman and Superintendent Alfredo Consemino in Barangay Lumutan, Atimonan last Jan. 6.

The policemen and soldiers were charged with multiple murder, apart from the administrative charges being heard by the Internal Affairs Service.