2 Pentagon suspects in slay of Tacurong execs arrested

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Two of suspected Pentagon Gang members who are believed to be responsible for the Saturday killing of the assistant treasurer of Tacurong City and his staffer were arrested by operatives of the Army's 301st Brigade yesterday.

601st Army Brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, said the two suspects were arrested not far from the spot where they flagged down the vehicle of victims Richard Escobia and his subordinate, Eileen Lustre and shot them after divesting them of their belongings.

The suspects, Sapudla Apurok, 36, and Seng Pagal, 31, who were tracked down with the help of local officials, are now undergoing tactical interrogation by police and Army intelligence agents.

Dema-ala said combined elements of his brigade and the 6th Infantry Division are still pursuing the other gunmen who are believed to have links with notorious Pentagon Gang leaders Tahir Alonto and Mayangkang Saguile.

Escobia and Ilustre, along with their officemates, were enroute to Davao City for a field trip on board three vehicles when the gunmen, positioned at one side of the Tacurong-Davao Highway in Barangay Digal, Buluan, intercepted their convoy and robbed them of their belongings.

One of the suspect, who was wearing a ski mask, forced a .45 caliber pistol into Lustre’s mouth and opened fire.

Dema-ala said they have enlisted the help of religious leaders in the neighboring towns of Datu Paglas, Buluan and S.K. Pendatu, all in Maguindanao, to help them locate the suspects.

Dema-ala said elements of the Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion have been scouring the farmlands surrounding the crime scene, which is about a kilometer away from a roadside Army detachment.

According to Dema-ala, soldiers who first responded to the scene managed to immediately locate the suspects' assembly area in Barangay Cadiis, Datu Paglas after the attack but the suspects had already fled.