THE alleged gunman in the killing of a public school teacher in the southern town of Mingla-nilla, Cebu was arrested Wednesday night.
Noel E. Yapparcon, 37, alias Weng, was arrested in his house in Barangay Panadtaran, San Fernan-do, Cebu by a team of operatives from Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG).
Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, RSOG chief, said Yapparcon was arrested for allegedly keeping two pistols and several rounds of ammunition.
The team raided Yapparcon’s house at 9 p.m. using the search warrant for firearms issued by Executive Judge Meinrado Paredes of the Regional Trial Court Branch 13 last Aug. 25.
Santander and Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Erson Digal claimed five witnesses, including two minors, identified Yapparcon as the one who shot and killed school teacher Serafin Villahermosa inside Tubod Elementary School last month.
Yapparcon, however, denied the allegations.
Yapparcon, who once worked as a driver of an ambulance of the municipal government of San Fernando, said he did not know Villahermosa and had no reason to kill him.
Villahermosa’s wife earlier said the killing of her husband and her sister, Lalaine Jore, were connected.
She believes the suspected mastermind of the murder of her sister got angry after she and his father filed a case against him.
Jore was slain inside her convenience store in Cebu City on Feb. 17, 2009.
Jore’s father submitted an affidavit to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office last March 8, accusing the Ricardo Reluya, husband of former San Fernando Mayor Lakambini Reluya, of being the mastermind in the killing of his daughter last year.
The Jore family said the killing was “motivated by jealousy and business interest.”
Charges for murder and illegal possession of firearms were filed against Yapparcon, who denied owning the .45 caliber and .22 caliber, and the seven rounds of ammunition allegedly recovered by the police inside his house.
He accused Santander’s team of planting the evidence against him.
Villahermosa’s widow, in a text message to reporters, said she and her family was glad that Yapparcon was finally arrested.
“We are very happy with the arrest of the gunman. We would like to express our gratitude to the authorities and to the entire reinforcement team who risked their lives for us to attain justice. We know that God will always in the side of the good,” she said.
With Yapparcon’s arrest, Digal considered Villahermosa’s killing solved within the police level.