FOR the past 17 years, Merlin Capistrano, a health worker in Barangay Tutay in the southwestern Cebu town of Pinamungajan, has been living an ordinary life.
Capistrano, 59, and her live-in partner, Alberto Papasin, have a child who is studying criminology in college and is aiming to become a policeman.
But past midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, Capistrano’s past caught up with her.
She was arrested at her home in Barangay Tutay. Police were also looking for Papasin, but he was not around.
Corporal Christian Ortega, assistant investigator of the Pinamungajan Police Station, said Capistrano, a native of Maasin City, Southern Leyte, and Papasin have arrest warrant for possession of illegal drug and drug-sniffing paraphernalia that was issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 25 Judge Romero Gomez in Maasin City in 2005.Bail was set at P200,000.
Settle the case
Lt. Col. Vicente Bullecer Jr., acting chief of the Maasin City Police Station, said the couple should face the case and settle the matter.
“They have a child who wants to be a policeman. His application to join the force may hit a snag if it comes out that his parents have a criminal record,” Bullecer said in Cebuano.