Iloilo City's most wanted man falls

CEBU, Philippines - The most wanted man of Iloilo City was finally arrested Wednesday afternoon at the city's Mandurriao district.

The suspect, 31-year-old Romeo Poblete, who hails from Barangay Banago of Bacolod City, was working at a construction site near the Western Visayas Medical Center in Barangay Q. Abeto when arrested.

According to a police informant, Poblete had been using the name Romeo Alvarez (his middle name) to dodge arrest.

Members of the police's Regional Intelligence Division and the Mandurriao Police Station, nailed the suspect and implemented an arrest warrant, issued by Regional Trial Court-Branch 28 of Iloilo City Judge Loida Diestro-Maputol, for murder, under Criminal Case No. 11-69527.

Poblete was charged following a stabbing incident that killed a 20-year-old man and injured another on November 7, 2010 at Muelle Loney Street, City Proper district in Iloilo City. The fatality was Hansel Lacson, 20, of Sibunag in Guimaras while the wounded was Jerro Grana, 19, of Molo district in Iloilo City.

The victims were drinking beer at the roadside of Muelle Loney when the incident happened. Grana accidentally knocked off a bottle of beer. It hit the ground and crashed, but angered Poblete and his companions, who were also drinking a few meters from the victims, and resulted in the stabbing attack.

Police reports also said Poblete had been involved in several misdemeanors before the incident.  (FREEMAN)