A TRACKER team was created by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 to hunt down the three former Highway Patrol Group (HPG) 7 officers tagged in the ambush-slay of lawyer Noel Archival and his two aides.
This is after the alias warrant against Supt. Romualdo Iglesia, former HPG 7 director; Insp. Joselito Lerion, former HPG 7 Special Operations Team chief; and PO1 Alex Bacani was issued by the court last week, said Supt. Fermin Armendarez III of CIDG 7.
They are now verifying a report that the fugitives are hiding in Bohol, where Lerion reportedly comes from.
“They are reportedly in Bohol but we still have to validate this,” Armendarez said.
The CIDG 7 official, however, believed that this could be unlikely since the fugitives also know the “ins and outs of police work.” If they are going to hide,
the officers could be in Luzon.
“Dili sila daling mailhan kay daghan tawo didto. Daghang sad kataguan unlike diri (They can’t be easily identified there because there are lots of people there. They also have several possible hideouts unlike here),” Armendarez said.
Though the fugitives are also law enforcers whom they were able to work with before, Armendarez said that no one can prevent the CIDG 7 from arresting them.
Armendarez, though, admitted it would not be easy catching the fugitives.
Iglesia, Lerion and Bacani are facing multiple murder cases for the deaths of Archival, his aide Candido Miñoza and driver Alejandro Jayme.
They are also facing frustrated murder case for injuries sustained by Paolo Cortes during the ambush in Barangay Coro, Dalaguete, Cebu, on Feb. 18, 2014.
The three officers were relieved last year from their posts in HPG 7 after being implicated in the incident.
They were transferred to the national headquarters, but they have gone absent without official leave (Awol), which was used as the basis in dropping them from the rolls.