TWO most wanted persons in the Central Visayas were arrested in Bohol and Cebu on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 and Thursday, April 13, respectively.
The first to be arrested was Allan Bariquit, 25, the top 7 most wanted person who hails from Barangay Tinago, Dauis town.
Bariquit is facing a carnapping case. Tagbilaran City Police Station (TCPS) personnel headed by Lieutenant Colonel Regie Real arrested the suspect at 8 p.m. on Wednesday by virtue of a warrant issued by Judge Lindecita Cabaron Arcamo of Regional Trial Court branch 1 based in Tagbilaran City on February 4, 2022.
The TCPS, together with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Bohol Provincial Field Unit, Provincial Mobile Force Company and Dauis Municipal Police Station immediately conducted the operation after receiving reports that Bariquit was spotted in Tagbilaran.
The court allows a P300,000 bail for the suspect’s temporary liberty.
In Santander town, southern Cebu, the number 5 most wanted person was arrested by the operatives of 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) in Barangay Canlumacad at 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, 2023.
The suspect was identified as Macarlito Miro Culanag, 55, a resident of the said place.
Culanag was a former tugboat captain who worked as tricycle driver at the time of his arrest.
The PMFC squad, headed by Police Lieutenant Colonel Epream Paguyod, was armed with an arrest warrant issued by Judge Maria Dee Seares of the Regional Trial Court branch 6 based in Mandaue City on April 12, 2023.
The accused is facing charges for rape, which is non-bailable, and Anti-Child Pornography Act, which carries a P200,000 bail.
To recall, Culanag was first arrested during an entrapment operation on Oct. 2, 2022, after he was caught in the act of bringing a 16-year-old girl Tanya (real name withheld) to a motel on Mantawi Drive, Barangay Subangdaku in Mandaue City.
Major Romeo Caacoy Jr., chief of the Subangdaku Police Station, told SunStar Cebu that they conducted the operation after Tanya filed a complaint before their office against Culanag.
Tanya claimed that Culanag reportedly uploaded their sex video on social media just after their first meeting at a bar in the same barangay.
Tanya said Culanag took videos of their sexual encounter, which was later shared by the suspect on social media on Wednesday, September 28. (AYB, TPT)