PNP: 6 gun-for-hire gang men in Rizal and Batangas fall

The Philippine National Police announced over the weekend the arrest of six suspected gun-for-hire gang men in separate operations in Rizal and Batangas provinces. Operatives of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested five in Rizal province, even as a sixth was arrested in Batangas. CIDG head Director Samuel Pagdilao Jr. said his operatives in Cavite led by Chief Inspector Rey Magdaluyo arrested six members of the notorious Bermejo gun-for-hire gang in their hideout at Sitio Upper Kilingan, Brgy. San Jose. The area is a mountainous boundary between Antipolo City and Baras town in Rizal, according to a news release posted on the PNP website Sunday. Magdaluyo identified the suspects as:

- Christopher Bermejo, 22 - Lito Bermejo, 30 - Prisco Bermejo, 67 - Rene Bermejo, 23 - Leoncio Bermejo

The suspects have arrest warrants issued by a Catanduanes court for the August 2010 murder of Araojo and Nestro Eustaquio in Karamuram, Catanduanes. Magdaluyo said that the suspects were also linked to the murder of a member of Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit. After the killing, the suspects fled to Rizal province where they continued their gun-for-hire activities. Meanwhile, another gun-for-hire suspect was arrested in a hotel in Cuenca, Batangas. Randy Carandang, 36, is listed as eighth most wanted person with a P90,000 reward for his arrest. He has a warrant for murder issued by the Batangas City Regional Trial Court as the primary suspect in the May 2011 killing of Juan Lontoc of Brgy. Sampaguita West, Batangas City. Carandang was also linked to robbery-holdup cases in San Jose town and the recent killing of Jeffrey Sy, a Chinese businessman last October 11 in Brgy. Gumamela, Balayan town. The PNP said the latest arrests brought to 29 the number of arrested wanted persons in CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region. — LBG, GMA News