Mayor tagged in Belmonte ambush surrenders to Iligan City court

Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia. Photo from Iligan.gov.ph

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – Mayor Celso Regencia, the alleged brains in the ambush of Rep. Vicente Belmonte, surrendered to a regional trial court judge on Monday morning.

Judge Arthur Abundiente of the RTC Branch 4, said he turned over Regencia to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology at8:45 a.m. Monday.

Regencia has been in hiding since August when a local court issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the ambush that killed three bodyguards of Belmonte.

The lawmaker was wounded in the attack.

Belmonte and his men were ambushed while they were on their way to Iligan from the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental. SFM