7 hired guns nabbed in Batangas, Rizal in police hunt for fugitives of heinous crimes

MANILA, Philippines – Six hired guns in Rizal and another in Batangas were arrested by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) as part of a nationwide police manhunt against fugitives wanted for heinous crimes.

CIDG director Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. said operatives from Cavite, led by Chief Inspector Rey Magdaluyo, arrested six members of the notorious Bermejo gun-for-hire syndicate at about 5 a.m. Friday in a village at the boundary of Antipolo City and Baras town.

The suspects were Christopher Bermejo, 22; Lito Bermejo, 30; Prisco Bermejo, 67; Rene Bermejo, 23, and Leoncio Bermejo, according to a CIDG press statement.

They were arrested on the strength of arrest warrants issued by a Catanduanes court for the murder of Nestor Eustaquio in Caramoran town in August last year.

Magdaluyo said the suspects were also tagged in the murder of an unidentified member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit.

“After the killing, the suspects fled to Rizal province afterward where they continued with their gun-for-hire activities,” the CIDG said.

The group was captured after a member of CIDG’s Community Investigative Service (CIS) in Cavite who had information on the whereabouts of the suspects volunteered to help the CIDG track down the group in their lair.

In Batangas, members of the CIDG unit in the province led by Chief Insp. Jay Agcaoili arrested a suspected hired gun in a hotel in Cuenca town.

The suspect Randy Carandang, 36, a former security guard turned gun-for-hire, is listed as the eighth most wanted person in Batangas with a P90,000 reward for his capture, the CIDG said.

On Thursday, a member of the CIS in Batangas informed them that the suspect had been sighted in Zigzag Hotel in Barangay (village) Ibabaw.

Carandang, who has a warrant for murder issued by the Batangas City regional trial court, is the primary suspect in the killing of Juan Lontoc of Barangay Sampaguita West, Batangas City, in May.

He was also tagged in a series of robberies in San Jose town and the October 11 killing of Jeffrey Sy, a Chinese businessman allegedly gunned down by Carandang in Barangay Gumamela, Balayan town.

The recent arrests brought the number of wanted persons in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region who have been rounded up to 29 for October.

The CIDG has accounted for a total 109 wanted persons arrested nationwide for October.

Last month, Philippine National Police Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome set soft quotas for provincial police stations to capture from 100 to 150 fugitives every month, and an additional 50 wanted persons for the CIDG.