Suspect in slay try on Davao town vice mayor recaptured

DIGOS CITY – Police authorities here on Monday announced the recapture of the surviving suspect in the slay try on Malalag, Davao del Sur Vice Mayor Anselmo Mejias Sr. after escaping from a hospital on Sunday, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound.

Senior Supt. Michael John Dubria, Davao del Sur police director, said Raymond Alipayo, 19, was arrested in Talaingod, Davao del Norte hours, after escaping from the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City around 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

READ: Police probing attack on Davao town vice mayor

Dubria said Alipayo’s escape from the hospital was puzzling as he was being guarded by policemen.

“I already ordered a probe and if these policemen are found guilty of lapses, they will face administrative sanctions,” he said.

Dubria said the recaptured prisoner will be brought back to the hospital for further treatment of the wounds he sustained during the Good Friday attack on Mejias, but that additional policemen will be deployed to make sure he will not be able to escape again.

Mejias was inside his house in Poblacion, Malalag when three armed men came and tried to kill him.

The vice mayor, who was also armed killed two of the attackers – identified as Romy and Macky, both surnamed Peñafiel – and wounded Alipayo in the gun battle.

Mejias was also hit on the leg and was immediately brought to a hospital after subduing his attackers.

Mejias, an ally of the current Malalag town mayor, Roel Paras, under the Nacionalista Party said he believed that politics was the motive in the attempt to kill him.

In Cotabato City, police authorities on Monday announced the arrest of a suspect in the February 26 murder of Norodin Manalao, the chief of the Regional Reconciliation and Reunification Commission of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, Cotabato City police director, told reporters that Nasser Bagundang Wahab, also known as Romnick Wahab, 30, was arrested by elements of the city police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Barangay (village) Buliao II in the said city on April 7.

He said Wahab was arrested based on a warrant for a previous case.

Based on witnesses’ accounts, Wahab was one of the two suspects in the murder of Manalao, Balquin said.