SPD’s most wanted falls

MANILA, Philippines — Southern Police District (SPD)’s No. 1 most wanted person has been arrested in Isabela after three years of hiding.

Police served a warrant of arrest on Alfredo Monterde dela Cerna Jr. after receiving information that he was staying with his relatives in Ilagan City on Oct. 23.

Presiding Judge Paz Esperanza of the Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 271 had issued a warrant for Dela Cerna’s arrest for murder on Aug. 9, 2018.

No bail was recommended for his temporary freedom.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Maj.Gen. Debold Sinas said Dela Cerna, of North Signal, Taguig, went into hiding after he was involved in a murder in 2017.

Sinas said the fugitive was also on the drug watchlist of the SPD.

He commended the SPD’s Intelligence Division, Regional Intelligence Division, Police Regional Office 2, District Mobile Force Batallion, Special Weapons and Tactims unit of the SPD, Isabela Provincial Police Office and the Ilagan police station for the arrest of Dela Cerna.

The NCRPO coordinated the operation with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Sinas said.

He said the suspect had been under surveillance for a month.

“This should serve as a warning to criminals. The NCRPO will find you wherever you are hiding,” Sinas said.

Dela Cerna is being held at the Taguig police detention facility pending his turnover to the court.