Families of freed convicts in Chiong rape-slay case assure cops of surrender

CEBU CITY — The family of the two suspects in the rape-slay of Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong assured the police that the two convicts would surrender.

“We went to their homes in Carcar City (in southern Cebu) and their families assured us that they would surrender,” said Col. Roderick Mariano, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office.

“We will take their assurance as it is,” he added.

Based on their monitoring, however, Ariel Balansag and Alberto Caño had yet to arrive in Cebu.

Balansag and Caño, together with Josman Aznar, were released from the National Bilibid Prison over good conduct, former Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon confirmed.

He did not say when the three convicts were released.

President Duterte on Wednesday decided to fire Faeldon amid public outrage over his revelations on the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.

The President ordered those released due to the GCTA law to surrender for a recomputation of their benefits.

Since 2013, a total of 1,914 heinous crime convicts have been released.

Those who wouldn’t surrender, the President said, would be considered a “fugitive of justice” and would be considered a “criminal.”

He said he would also dangle a P1-million reward for the arrest of each freed convict, dead or alive./lzb