Police: Suspect in death
of homosexual ‘released’

The seashell gatherer, who was arrested for the death of a homosexual in Bacolod City last week, was released from detention Wednesday afternoon on orders of the City Prosecutor’s Office, Senior Insp. Robert Dejucos, Station 2 chief, said yesterday.

Dejucos said City Prosecutor Hermie Arino ordered the release of Erwin Alberio, 29, of Sitio Bayas in Estancia town, Iloilo province, as his arrest was no longer covered by the “hot pursuit operation”.

Alberio was tagged as a suspect in the brutal killing of Eddie Saraet Bolatayo, 21, of Brgy. Canturay, Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, whose body was found in a grassy portion of Bacolod’s reclamation area Wednesday last week.

Instead of undergoing an inquest procedure, Station 2 policemen filed the murder case against Alberio and his unidentified companion, through regular filing before the City Prosecutor’s Office Wednesday, Dejucos said.

The CPO gave Alberio 10 days to counter the charges filed, or the case will be forwarded to the court and an arrest warrant issued against him, Dejucos added.

He said they will no longer ask the National Bureau of Investigation to generate a facial sketch of the other suspect in the killing of Bolatayo, as the witnesses can no longer describe the suspect.

Investigation showed that the suspects may have gotten mad at the victim, who passed himself off as a girl after the prostitute they wanted to go out with, refused.

Bolatayo sustained 21 stab wounds and his groin was pierced, the report of City Medico Legal officer Ely Cong showed.*APN

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Call center agent, shopper
victimized by pickpockets

A customer lost her things to two suspected pickpockets in a store at the Bacolod City downtown area Tuesday, while a call center agent was victimized by a snatcher, who grabbed her wallet at the junction of B.S. Aquino Drive and Lacson Street in the city Wednesday.

Sharon Chua, 36, of Sierra Madre Street in Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod, told the police that she was at the Unitop Merchandising store at Gonzaga Street at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, when two women bumped her from behind then went out of the store.

Chua said that when she was about to pay at the cashier for the school supplies she bought, she discovered that her three cellular phones, all valued at P20,000, and her pouch that contained P5,700 and identification cards, were gone from her sling bag.

Chua was able to identify the two suspects, through the police Rogues’ Gallery, as Floridel Vergil Hermosora “alias Yvon”, and Winnie Paunillo, both of Lopez Jaena Street, in Brgy. 27, Bacolod, the police said.

A follow-up operation was conducted by Station 1 policemen, that led to the arrest of Paunillo at the Bacolod downtown area, and the recovery of one of Chua’s cellular phones and her pouch that contained P3,700. Hermosora evaded arrest, a police report show.

Meanwhile, Margie Madrina, 34, of Estancia Subdivision in Brgy. Mandalagan, Bacolod, and a call center agent, said she was walking on her way to a convenience store at B.S. Aquino Drive at about 3:50 a.m. Wednesday, when she noticed a man following her.

Madrina said that when she reached the junction of B.S. Aquino Drive and Lacson Street, the man suddenly snatched her pouch that contained her cellular phone, valued at P14,000, and identification cards, boarded a tricycle waiting nearby, and fled.*APN

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3 dead, 3 injured
in road accident

Three members of an affluent family died, and three others were injured when the Isuzu D’Max pickup truck they were riding overturned along the highway in Makilala, North Cotabato, at around 8 p.m. Tuesday night, the police reported.

Killed were Endrico Genota, 66; his daughter-in-law Charmane, 33; and granddaughter Marian, 12, all of Poblacion, Kidapawan City.

Injured were Jake Genota, 32; his three-year-old daughter; and sister-in-law Maria Cristina, 32.

Reports from the Makilala Police said that Endrico and Charmane were declared dead on arrival at the Makilala Medical Center in Barangay Santo Niño; while Marian died at the Kidapawan Medical Specialist Center in Kidapawan City.

The Genota family owns an auto supply and hardware store in the city.

Initial investigation showed that the pickup truck was traveling along the Makilala-Kidapawan highway when the accident took place.*PNA

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