By: Jennifer P. Rendon
Several residents of Molo, Iloilo City were taken aback after seeing a man being loaded on a pick-up vehicle morning of June 26, 2019.
But nope, it was not a case of abduction perpetrated by persons engaged in illicit organ harvesting.
It turned out that the subject, Ricardo Bongsod Jr., was wanted for a homicide charge.
Members of Lemery Police Station, together with personnel from the Regional Intelligence Unit 6 (RIU-6), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 6 (CIDG-6) and the Regional Maritime Unit 6, arrested Bongsod as he was about to report to work around 9 a.m. at Barangay Cochero.
A warrant of arrest was issued against the suspect and his younger brother for homicide docketed as Criminal Case 2010-4837. Judge Rogelio Amador issued the warrant on April 23, 2010.
Bongsod’s brother remains at-large as of this writing.
Police Captain Marvin Buenavista, Lemery police chief, said the arrest was coordinated with the Molo Police Station and village officials.
The 43-year-old suspect, who hails from Barangay San Jose, Lemery, and his brother were accused of killing a neighbor in December 2009.
Bongsod went to Palawan after the incident and stayed there for two years.
But he wasn’t able to find a good job to support his three children.
He later decided to return to Iloilo and worked at a poultry and piggery farm in Molo.
He’s a stay-in worker at his employer’s place in Avanceña Street, Molo.
Buenavista said they waited for the suspect at Barangay Baluarte until he passed by the area on a bicycle.
As he was about to open the gate, Buenavista said he called him by his nickname Jun-Jun.
“We immediately served the arrest warrant against him and there was no resistance on his part,” he said.
The suspect was subsequently hauled to the vehicle and presented to court.
He will be released if he could post the P40,000 bail.
