2 suspects in murder of Misamis Occidental broadcaster arrested

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Policemen nabbed on Friday two of the three suspects in the murder last year of a broadcaster inside a radio station in Calamba town in Misamis Occidental.

Boboy Sagaral Bongcawel and his relative, Reynante Saja Bongcawel, yielded peacefully to the police team that found them in Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental and showed them warrants for their arrest for the murder on Nov. 5, 2023 of Juan Tumpag Jumalon, the owner of 94.7 FM Gold Station in nearby Calamba town.

In separate statements released on Sunday, the Sapang Dalaga Municipal Police Station and the Misamis Occidental Provincial Police Office confirmed the arrest of the two, now clamped down in a detention facility.

Local officials reportedly led to their location in a secluded area in Barangay Poblacion in Sapang Bato the policemen who served them warrants for their arrest from the Regional Trial Court Branch 36 in Calamba, signed by Judge Michael Lotao Ajoc, without recommended bail.  

A third suspect, Julito Mangumpit, the triggerman whose image was recorded by security cameras when he killed Jumalon with a pistol while hosting a morning public affairs program right inside his radio station in Barangay Don Bernardo A. Neri in Calamba, remained at large.

Mangumpit is subject of an extensive continuing hunt by agents from the intelligence units of the Misamis Occidental PPO and the Police Regional Office-10.