3 suspects in ex-Leyte vice mayor’s murder yield

MANILA, Philippines — Three suspects in the kidnapping and murder of former Abuyog, Leyte vice mayor James Bohol and his son Carlou James have surrendered to authorities in Pasay City.

Mark James Taboy, 30; Kim Solayao, 27, and Reniel Galza, 24, turned themselves in to police on Tuesday night, according to Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.

The suspects’ families negotiated for their surrender as police were closing in on their locations.

Operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) pursued the suspects after they were identified by witnesses as the ones who kidnapped Bohol and his son from their warehouse in Mayorga, Leyte on June 27.

On Tuesday, the remains of the victims were found in a ravine in Barangay Imelda, Silago in Southern Leyte.

Authorities said the suspects were last seen in a getaway vehicle in Basey, Samar.

At a news briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City yesterday, AKG director Brig. Gen. Edwin Balles said they were monitoring the suspects’ movements through a global positioning system installed in a rented car.

The suspects transferred to a pickup truck and then boarded a roll-on/roll-off vessel for Matnog, Sorsogon.

Balles said probers were looking into debt as a possible motive since one of the suspects, Daboy, owed Bohol an unspecified amount of money from their business endeavor.

Police said the suspects killed the Bohols by hitting them on the head with a dumbbell and stabbing them multiple times.

After news reports surfaced that authorities have found the victims’ bodies, Balles said the suspects decided to surrender.