MANILA, Philippines–Lesson: Mind the middle names.
Melvin Badilla, who is listed by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) as their fifth-most wanted man, remains at large since the person who was arrested in Palawan province on April 6 just happened to have the same first and last name.
QCPD director Chief Supt. Joel Pagdilao on Thursday said the person arrested by the Palawan police in Barangay (village) Iraan, Aborlan town, was not the Badilla who was charged with the murder of five people in Quezon City in November 2011.
Pagdilao said the mistake was discovered only when the arrested person, Melvin Ondam-Badilla, was flown from Palawan to Quezon City.
The Inquirer also learned that the arrest warrant served on the Palawan-based Badilla, a construction site driver, simply identified its subject as Melvin Badilla—with no middle name or initial.
On April 8, when the QCPD police presented the arrested Badilla to a woman who had witnessed the crime, she confirmed that he was not one of the men who killed her relatives. She later executed a sworn statement clearing the arrested person.
In an April 15 report to the National Capital Region Police (NCRPO) director Carmelo Valmoria, Pagdilao said the arrested Badilla was later released from QCPD custody and turned over to his brother-in-law, Rommel Tabbad.
“The two left for Palawan onboard Cebu Pacific on April 15 and were provided financial assistance,” Pagdilao told Valmoria.
Reached by the Inquirer on the phone on Thursday, a soft-spoken Ondam-Badilla said the policemen who picked him up did not give him a chance to clear his name. “They just arrested me at the construction site and put me in handcuffs. They even had mediamen in tow,” he said.
A TV report on the arrest later showed his mugshot.
“We just have the same name but I’m not him. I don’t even know him,” he said, referring to the murder suspect. “I was only able to clear things up when I was brought to Quezon City, and when the witness saw me.”
Asked if he would be filing a complaint against the policemen who arrested him, he said: “I have no plans to file a case for now. I just want the truth to come out.”
In the interview, Pagdilao said that he could not speak for the Palawan police or the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group on what led to the wrongful arrest.
The wanted Melvin Badilla faces murder charges along with five other suspects in a shooting incident in Barangay Batasan Hills on Nov. 28, 2011, that killed residents Liberato Paez, Rogelio Diomampo, Rogelio Agustin, Germinio Manansala, Armando Garcia. Another resident, Zaldy Ballesteros, was wounded.