MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) A notorious member of a kidnap-for-ransom group was apprehended by police Sunday, an official said on Monday.
Onofre Surat Jr., one of the most wanted in the country, was arrested by operatives of the Rizal provincial police at around 1 a.m. Sunday, said Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, deputy regional director for administration for Region 4, in a press conference at the PNP Special Action Force (SAF) headquarters in Baras in the province of Rizal.
Surat was allegedly involved in the 2001 kidnapping and murder of Mark Harris Bacalla, son of a prominent judge, the late Judge Marciano Bacalla.
Surat has been in hiding for eight years. He was caught by operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last June 2001, but managed to escape from custody while undergoing X-ray at the East Avenue Hospital in Quezon City.
Since then, Surat has gone into hiding. But on Sunday, Surat was spotted by police waiting for a vehicle along Cainta Junction.
“Naghihintay ng sasakyan [He was waiting for a ride]. Nandun siya sa Junction, pasakay na siya [He was at the Junction, he was about to ride]. We found out na meron siyang pinupuntahan sa Taytay [that he had been meeting someone in Taytay],” Magtibay said, but added that police were still determining if Surat has relatives in the province.
Surat has an existing warrant of arrest issued last May by Judge Vivencio Baclig of Branch 76 of the Quezon City regional trial court.
Upon the arrest of Surat, Magtibay said that they would be doubling security against Surat to prevent another escape. Magtibay added that there would be one recipient of the P500,000 reward money raised for the immediate arrest of Surat.
Bacalla was kidnapped last May 2, 2001 inside Lagro Subdivision in Fairview, Quezon City. When he learned of the P4 million ransom for his release, Bacalla reportedly resisted and was killed the day after his abduction. Despite this, the suspects still demanded ransom.
The suspects were initially given P442,000 and then P500,000 by the Bacallas.
Two of the members of the kidnap-for-ransom group, of which Surat was its alleged leader, had been convicted for the incident.
