Palawan ex-governor’s aide in Ortega slay nabbed

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—Another key suspect in the slaying of Palawan broadcast journalist Gerry Ortega fell into the hands of lawmen early Sunday in Pasig City.

Percibal Bacomo Lecias, 44, was arrested by agents of a composite unit led by the Special Operations Group (SOG), an enforcement arm of the city government of Puerto Princesa, after weeks of surveillance that led them to the suspect’s hideout in Barangay Caniogan, Pasig City.

SOG head Randy Suelo said Lecias, a personal aide of former Palawan Governor Joel T. Reyes, the accused mastermind, was cited as an accomplice in the shooting of Ortega inside a used clothing store in this city on Jan. 24, 2011.

He was alleged to have produced the gun that was used by the gunman who stalked and killed Ortega.

No surrender

Suelo said their group, backed up by the city police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Palawan, was earlier expecting Lecias to surrender after his buddy and another suspect, Arturo Regalado, gave up on April 11. Regalado is also a personal aide of Reyes.

Lecias, however, decided to back out from surrendering and went into hiding, according to Suelo.

Suelo said they were holding Lecias in an undisclosed place in Metro Manila. He declined to say when they would be bringing him to Puerto Princesa to be presented to the local court where his arrest warrant had been issued.

With Lecias’ arrest, only two suspects remains at large: Reyes and his brother, Mario, mayor of Coron town.

The Reyes brothers went into hiding in mid-March shortly before a regional trial court in Puerto Princesa issued warrants for their arrest.

The Reyes brothers are the main subjects of a nationwide manhunt with a P1.55-million bounty for their capture.