Ex-Gapan mayor arrested in QC while on dialysis

A former city mayor of Gapan, Nueva Ecija province, was arrested in Quezon City Thursday afternoon in connection with the murder of four people in 2005.

Ernesto Natividad was placed under arrest at Urology Center of the Philippines on a warrant issued by a Manila judge last year.

Supt. Marcelino Pedrozo, commander of the Quezon City Police District’s Kamuning station, said the arrest was a joint operation between the QCPD and the intelligence group of the National Capital Region Police Office led by Senior Supt. Elmer Pelobello.

He said the arresting team found Natividad while he was undergoing dialysis at the center. The warrant was served after he was finished with the procedure.

Pedrozo said the former mayor is charged with multiple murder over the deaths of brothers Eric and Emerson Pascual and two others on March 20, 2005, in Gapan.

Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Felixberto Olalia ordered him arrested in January last year.

Pedrozo described Natividad as the most wanted man in Region 3, with a P3-million reward for his capture. Julie M. Aurelio