ARRESTED. The Police Regional Office (PRO-7) releases to Cebu media the photo of the three armed men arrested in Badian town, southwestern Cebu on Wednesday (July 31, 2019). PRO-7 Director Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas suspects the three as New People's Army members and among the terrorists who killed four cops in Ayungon, Negros Oriental last July 18. (Photo courtesy of Badian Police Station)
CEBU CITY -- The Police Regional Office in Region 7 (Central Visayas) on Thursday said they are now looking into the possible link of the three armed men arrested in the southern town of Badian, Cebu to the killing of the four policemen in Ayungon, Negros Oriental last July 18.
Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, regional director of PRO-7, on Thursday said the three men were arrested by the Badian police, headed by Lt. Revelito Tadique, on Wednesday, July 31.
He identified the three as Danny Harold Tancinco, Ronnie Herbias, and Marlon Basalo, all from Negros Oriental.
Tadique said in a radio interview that they believe the three men were among the suspected members of the New People's Army (NPA), who killed the four policemen while on an intelligence gathering operation.
The victims were identified as Cpl. Relebert Beronio and Patrolmen Raffy Callao, Roel Cabellon, and Marquino De Leon.
Sinas, who is in Bohol for the turnover of command for Col. Jonathan Cabal as new director of the Bohol Provincial Police Office, was quoted in a radio interview as saying that two of the three suspects arrested in Badian reportedly claimed to be NPA rebels.
Tadique said they arrested the three while responding to a report from concerned civilians that armed men arrived in Badian on board a pump boat from Negros Oriental.
Meanwhile, the police in Negros Oriental also arrested two suspects in the killing of the four policemen in a joint operation by the PRO-7 and the Armed Forces of the Philippines last Monday. Nabbed were Rico Oracoy, 39, and Lito Cadusale, 51, both farmers and residents of Mabato, Ayungon.
According to the police, the operatives seized from Oracoy and Cadusale two .38 caliber revolvers, a rifle grenade, and two sets of improvised explosive devices. (PNA)
