Iloilo cops get reward for death of drug lord

ILOILO CITY—For killing the biggest drug lord in Western Visayas, the city police will receive P500,000.

The Iloilo provincial government wants to reward the Iloilo City police for the successful operation that “neutralized” Richard Prevendido, the suspected top drug lord in Western Visayas region, on Sept. 1.

Aside from rewarding the police, the province would also give P500,000 to the tipster who squealed on the whereabouts of Prevendido, who had been hiding for months.

Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor on Wednesday issued an executive order, releasing P1 million in reward for both the police and the informant who also stood to receive P600,000 more—P500,000 from the Iloilo City government and P100,000 from the police.

The tipster was said to be part of Prevendido’s inner circle who was lured by the P1.1 million reward for information that would lead to the drug lord’s arrest.

Police said Prevendido and his son, Jason, put up a fight when they conducted the raid in a house at Landheights Subdivision in Balabago village in Jaro District here.

According to Chief Supt. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, regional police director, the police are now working to arrest Ernesto Bolivar, said to be a subgroup leader of Prevendido’s gang. —NESTOR P. BURGOS JR.