INTENSIFIED ANTI-CRIME DRIVE. Newly-installed PRO-13 director Brig. Gen. Pablo Labra II (right) seeks an intensified anti-criminality drive on all wanted persons in the region barely a week after his new assignment in the Caraga region. Labra was installed by PNP Chief, Gen. Rodolfo Azurin (left) on Nov. 2, 2022. (Photo courtesy of PRO-13)
BUTUAN CITY – Brigadier General Pablo Lara II, the newly-installed Police Regional Office in the Caraga Region (PRO-13) director, has strengthened its campaign against wanted criminals and anti-crime drives a week into his latest work assignment.
“Aside from the intensified manhunt against those who are wanted from the law, PRO-13 will also boost its anti-illegal drug campaigns,” Maj. Jennifer Ometer, the PRO-12 information office chief, said in an interview Monday.
Lara assumed the post as PRO-13 chief on Nov. 2 replacing Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. who led the regional police for more than two years.
On Nov. 3, three rape suspects were apprehended through separate intensified manhunt operations by police stations under the Agusan del Sur Police Provincial Office.
The rape suspects are identified as Randy Lopez Morante, 20, of Barangay Tibanban, Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental; Jayson Asis Diego, 24, of Poblacion, Rosario, Agusan del Sur; and Dieter Junyo Raca, 32, of Barangay Sta. Ines, San Luis, Agusan del Sur.
Morante, who was arrested in Barangay Patrocinio, Sta. Josefa, Agusan del Sur, is considered as the fourth most wanted person in the region who carries an arrest warrant for rape issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 55 in Trento, Agusan del Sur.
The suspect has been in hiding after allegedly raping a 12-year-old Grade 6 student on July 21 in the town of Sta. Josefa.
On the other hand, Diego, the 6th most wanted person in the region, is the main suspect in the rape of a 16-year-old victim on Jan. 5 this year in Barangay Libuac, Rosario town.
He was arrested in Poblacion Rosario through an arrest warrant issued by RTC Branch 6 in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.
Meanwhile, Raca, the eighth most wanted person in the region, was nabbed in Barangay Sta. Ines, San Luis town through an arrest warrant issued by RTC Branch 7 in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur.
He is the main suspect in the rape of an 11-year-old girl sometime in 2018 that took place in Barangay Sta. Ines.
On Nov. 5, police operatives arrested Vily Tavis Guiritan, 41, in Barangay Camam-onan, Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte.
The suspect went into hiding after allegedly killing farmer Alberto Elardo Cruzado, 54, and the latter’s son Jobert, 30, on Nov. 3 in Barangay Daywan, Claver, Surigao del Norte.
Labra lauded the immediate capture of the suspect, even as he assured the families of the victims of justice for the death of their loved ones.
“A case of multiple murder will be filed against the suspect, who is currently detained in Claver municipal police station,” Labra said. (PNA)
