Thursday, October 12, 2006 Rebel couple has 4 arrest warrants
THE rebel couple who surrendered last week has pending arrest warrants for four counts of murder, according to the Central Command (Centcom).
Luciano Poro and Roselyn Nurab remain under the custody of Centcom in Lahug, Cebu City even after the assurance of Catmon Mayor Estrella Aribal that they will allow the couple to stay in the town’s ABC building.
The commander of 78th Infantry Battalion, Jess Alvarez, said the couple is still being interrogated and they have revealed information that is “of good tactical value.”
He refused to divulge the legal actions that will be taken against the couple.
Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Vicente Loot said the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group will be the one to handle the couple’s cases.
There is a possibility that they will become state witnesses after Poro admitted joining several attacks against the military.
Centcom spokesman Jeffrey Omandam, in a radio dyLA interview, shared Loot’s view but added that they should also face the law for the “several atrocities” they were involved in.
But Alvarez said when they start living in the ABC building in Catmon, the PNP and the military will provide security for them.
There is fear that the couple might be killed by the rebels especially now that they have revealed vital information to the military.
Poro and Nurab and their two children, aged three and four, surrendered to the military through a Catmon councilor last week.
Decision
Poro, who hails from Catmon, said they decided to return to the government because they want to have peace in their family.
Poro was formerly a vice platoon leader of Front 2 in the mid-north area of Cebu and admitted that he was among those who attacked an army outpost in Barangay Sumon, Tuburan last year, killing three soldiers.
Since then, they went into hiding in Malaybalay, Bukidnon until they decided to surrender last week.
Aside from giving them shelter, the local government of Catmon also promised to provide food and livelihood. (MBG)
