Cops arrest Abra suspect in murder of 3 men

BAGUIO CITY –– The man, accused of killing three tribesmen from the Mountain Province at the borders of Abra province, has been arrested, the Cordillera police said on Saturday.

Marlon Batuli was served an arrest warrant at 6 p.m. on October 17 in the Abra town of Tubo. Batuli has been hiding in Barangay Kili after he allegedly confessed to killing Besao town residents Jansen Gabaen, Ronnie Macayba, and Pedro Sauyen.

The three men from Barangay Agawa disappeared after setting off to fish at a river near the Tubo village of Baclingayan in May.

Search teams found their badly mutilated bodies on May 27, triggering an outcry in Barangays Agawa, Gueday, Lacmaan, Ambagiw, and Tamboan. The remains bore stab wounds.

The Cordillera police said Baclingayan tribesmen told their children studying in other municipalities of Abra and Mountain Province to return home, fearful of “revenge attacks” from the Besao families.

But tensions simmered down after a peace summit initiated by the police in July./lzb