Missing cop-suspect in Atimonan bloodbath nabbed in Pampanga

A police officer linked to the January 6 Atimonan bloodbath who went missing has been arrested in Pampanga, Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima said Thursday.

Purisima said Superintendent Ramon Balauag was nabbed Wednesday upon his arrival at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga. Balauag came from Doha, Qatar. 
 

Balauag is now at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Purisima said.

 

Balauag has been missing since July 8, 2013. Another suspect, P02 Nelson Indal, surrendered in September. Indal had been missing since August 16, 2013.

Still at large is PO2 Al Bhazar Jailani, missing since August 8, 2013.

 

The police have formed a tracking team to locate the suspects who fled before a court issued an arrest warrant over their supposed role in the Atimonan bloodbath that killed 13 people last January 6.

 

The police officials may face administrative charges for having gone AWOL (absent without leave), in addition to their violations on the PNP rules of engagements in checkpoints, Purisima's spokesperson senior superintendent Wilben Mayor earlier said.

 

They may also face dismissal from service and could lose their retirement benefits, he added.

 

The January 6 incident at a PNP checkpoint in Atimonan, Quezon, ended with the deaths of 13 passengers of two vehicles, including environmentalist Tirso "Jun" Lontoc Jr., and alleged illegal gambling leader Vic Siman.

 

At the start, the cops involved in the incident claimed the victims were killed in a legitimate shootout as the men in the vans they intercepted at the checkpoint were armed.

 

The National Bureau of Investigation, however, said the incident was an ambush, stemming from a supposed illegal gambling turf war.

 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended multiple murder charges against 13 police officers. The Quezon Regional Trial Court issued the arrest warrants.

 

The DOJ, meanwhile, cleared former Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent James Melad and 11 soldiers in the incident. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab/RSJ, GMA News