Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Cop killer with P140K reward falls By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
WAS it for want of love or money?
This question was asked, after a suspect wanted for the murder of a policeman in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur four years ago was finally nabbed in Baguio early Saturday evening.
The arrest came about after a female informant of the police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group posed as a rich girl from Zambales and developed a long-distance "textmate" relationship with the alleged cop-killer since March this year. She convinced the suspect to escort her around Baguio when she came up for a supposed vacation here last Saturday.
The suspect was identified on Tuesday by Senior Superintendent Cedrick Train, regional chief of the CIDG in the Cordillera, as Joel Batuon Arcena, 24, single, a resident of Km 4, La Trinidad, Benguet, who hails from San Julian Norte, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.
"The arrested person is the prime suspect in the shooting of SPO (Senior Police Officer) 3 Eugenio Feredo inside the Grand Pass Inn in Vigan sometime in 2004," Train disclosed.
He said Arcena is included in the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)'s list of most wanted persons nationwide with an approved monetary reward of P140,000 for his capture.
Train said Arcena was arrested by a team led by SPO3 Ernesto de Gula Jr. of the CIDG regional office and SPO2 Teofilo Juanata Jr. of the CIDG office of Bulacan in Burnham Park around 6:30 p.m. of September 6.
He said the arrest was made on the strength of a warrant issued by Judge Dominador Arquelada of Vigan's Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 21 based on the murder charge filed against Arcena.
According to de Gula, the surveillance operation on Arcena started sometime in March this year, after their female informant got hold of his mobile phone number and invited him to become her textmate.
After developing a long-distance relationship with the suspect and gaining his trust by maintaining constant communication with him through text, she pretended she would visit Baguio on September 6 and would need somebody to show her around.
After the time and place for their rendezvous was set and since the informant's life may be put in danger during the actual operation, PO1 Charito Carandang Leo, a policewoman of the CIDG regional office, pretended to be the textmate.
The policewoman was waiting near a parked vehicle, which the informant described as the one that she will use in going to Burnham Park, when the suspect arrived and was subsequently arrested by the waiting CIDG team.
After his arrest, the suspect was turned over to the CIDG team from Bulacan led by Juanata who brought him to Ilocos Sur to face the murder charges filed against him.
