Central Visayas’s 9 most wanted men nabbed

CEBU, Philippines —  Nine most wanted personalities in Central Visayas were arrested by the members of the Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU)-7 in separate operations in a span of five days.

Randy Ponce, Renato Gamboa, Gil Pansoy, Kevin Pansoy, Gabriel Semblante, Jonathan Songkip, and Eugenio Marayan, Jr. are among those apprehended for rape, possession of illegal drugs, frustrated murder, murder, sexual assault and illegal possession of firearms, respectively.

Police Lt. Colonel Ricky Delelis, RIU-7 chief, said five of them were arrested last Wednesday and the latest operation was done yesterday, resulting in the arrest of Ponce.

Based on RIU’s intelligence monitoring, Ponce was linked to a notorious drug group in Cebu.

Delelis said the intensified operations against most wanted personalities stemmed from the directive of Philippine National Police chief Debold Sinas.

"Buong Region 7. Meron po tayo (arrested) sa Bohol, sa Negros, dito sa metro Cebu, Cebu north at saka sa Cebu south. Ito ay coordinated effort sa Regional Intelligence Unit operatives at saka yung ibang units," he said.

He said all of the apprehended individuals did not resist arrest when served an arrest warrant.

He attributed the success of the operations to individuals who reported the suspects’ whereabouts.

He said they are still monitoring other wanted personalities in the region.

He said RIU is closely coordinating with other law enforcement agencies, such as Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Highway Patrol Group (HPG), and provincial police offices in the region, to hasten the arrest of these individuals.

"Smooth naman yung relationship namin with the other law enforcement agency to include the CIDG, HPG and other city and Provincial police office. Kami po ay nagtutulungan kung ano po ang nasa aming impormasyon sini-share namin sa kanila,"Delelis said. — KQD (FREEMAN)