A FORMER village councilor died after he clashed with authorities in Sitio Boloc-Boloc, Barangay Sangat, San Fernando town on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
Police identified the suspect as 44-year-old Jay Niño Langbid Castañares, who served as a Barangay Sangat councilor for three terms from 2007 to 2018.
An arrest for illegal drugs in 2017 cut his final term short. Beyond narcotics, police records link him to a string of murders spanning several years.
Most recently, authorities tagged Castañares in the March 21 shooting of gulaman vendor Emilio Miñoza Sabroso in Sitio Boloc-Boloc. Investigators said Castañares suspected Sabroso was a police informant, prompting him to lie in wait and shoot the vendor in the forehead.
He is also the prime suspect in the Jan. 22 shooting of 24-year-old Jericho Cañas Babayran in Barangay Greenhills, though the victim’s family ultimately declined to file a case despite coordinating with San Fernando police.
Long criminal record
His documented criminal history dates back more than a decade. Records show National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Castañares on June 4, 2010, over his alleged involvement in the ambush-slay of Florante Gudoy, husband of Capt. Fe Gudoy of Naga City. The attack happened in Barangay Cantao-an while the victim was riding a Ford Everest with his wife and a village watchman.
Two years later, on May 13, 2012, police captured him again after identifying him as one of the gunmen who killed Carl Vinzon Apura, son of the Carcar City mayor, in Sitio Upper Tubod, Barangay Valladolid.
Another arrest followed on Feb. 11, 2017, when Carcar City police intercepted him at a checkpoint with packets of suspected shabu. He subsequently served time at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. / AYB