RICKY Serenio, a top drug suspect in Negros Island Region (NIR), was released from detention Thursday after posting bail for illegal possession of explosives.
Senior Inspector Alfred de Leon, chief of Pulupandan Municipal Police Station, which was in-charge of the suspect’s custody, confirmed to SunStar Bacolod on Friday that Serenio was released around noon the other day.
Judge Eduardo Sayson of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 54 in Bacolod City ordered Serenio’s release after he posted a bail of P400,000.
He also posted a P120,000 bail for grave coercion charges before the
same court last January 20, and a bail of P200,000 for illegal possession of firearms charges before the RTC Branch 48 in the city.
Serenio, a member of Berya drug group, was placed under the protective custody of Moises Padilla Mayor Magdaleno Peña, a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency consultant, and his son Pulupandan Mayor Miguel Peña after he was arrested last January 8 in Talisay City for grave coercion.
He then yielded a .45 caliber pistol with magazine containing five live ammunition and a fragmentation grenade.
Serenio was placed under the town’s police custody for two months and two days since January 14, De Leon said.
The police chief said Serenio will undergo trial for the three cases.
De Leon said the police has no longer discretion over Serenio’s security following his release.