Armed men beat up, shoot fugitive

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A man ranked seventh on the list of most wanted persons in Negros Occidental was wounded after he was beaten up and shot by unidentified men in Sitio Amian, Barangay Tampalon in Kabankalan City on Monday.

Initial investigation showed Jimmy Fermo, 37, was sleeping at the house of Florentino Pelacio when four men arrived and then  handcuffed, blindfolded and beat up  the suspect.

Fermo was shot when he tried to escape. He suffered two gunshot wounds and was taken to the Lorenzo Zayco District Hospital, where he was served an arrest warrant for murder issued by a local court.

Meanwhile, in Laguna, Amador Merciales, 45; Ronnie Garcia, 34; Sito Bedrijo and Jaymark Espendia, 24, were arrested in Barangay Lawa in Calamba City for playing e-sabong.

The suspects reportedly yielded P590 in bet money and a cell phone.

In Basilan, 11 persons who carted away cash and valuables worth P1.3 million from a house in Barangay Tairan in Lantawan in 2016 were arrested in the same barangay on Sunday.— Emmanuel Tupas, John Unson