CEBU, Philippines - A 46-year-old man who is wanted for three counts of murder was arrested by Criminal Investigation Detection Group-7 personnel past 6 p.m. on Thursday in Sitio Bayong, Barangay Yati, Liloan town.
Marlo Ponce, 46, of Tambulig town in Zamboanga del Sur, was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 23 Presiding Judge Ernesto Laurel in Region 9.
He, along with three other suspects, was accused of killing his aunt and her two daughters.
CIDG Cebu Provincial Chief Inspector Rene Kyamko said they have conducted a weeklong surveillance against the suspect, receiving information that he is sighted in Liloan town.
Kyamko said the suspect stays at his aunt’s house in Liloan and serves as a cook in a carenderia.
Kyamko added that when they carried out the arrest, the suspect did not show any signs of resistance and cooperated with them.
He added that the chief of police in Tambulig town had initially coordinated with CIDG in 2008 after the warrant has been issued by Judge Laurel, aiming to check if the suspect is staying in Cebu.
The suspect was in Manila when they went to his last known location and had been in hiding for almost seven years until his arrest on Thursday.
In an interview, the suspect denied killing his aunt and her two daughters, saying he was sleeping when the incident happened.
He said his cousins and his uncle only dragged his name to the case. He said they were responsible for the crime.
“Naa koy saksi ana nga dili ako ang mipatay. Naa ra ko sa amoa, natulog ko, saksi akong mama ug papa (I have my mother and father as witnesses. I was home when the killing was staged. I was sleeping),” Ponce said.
The suspect said his cousins and uncle planned to kill his aunt and her family and that luckily, her husband was able to run and was saved.
He said he stayed in Liloan because he has a relative in the place and decided to help his aunt by working as a cook.
Initially, his cousins told him that he was implicated of the killing and warned him not to go back to Zamboanga del Sur because police officers were looking for him. — Bryner L. Diaz/JMD (FREEMAN)