One of Eastern Visayas’ most wanted falls in Samar

CALBAYOG CITY, April 2  --  After more than two years of hiding, one of the region’s most wanted person involved in a massacre in Gandara, Samar was captured Sunday in this city by a task force formed to dismantle private armed groups.

By virtue of a warrant of arrest for the crime of murder, the raiding team led by Supt. Jose Junar Alamo, city chief of police, arrested Jerry Dealagdon and his companion Eson Diaz in the city’s Tinambacan district.

Both did not resist arrest, although they were in possession of high powered firearms.

“He is on the list of top 10 most wanted persons in Eastern Visayas. He was considered armed and dangerous by the police,” Alamo told PNA on Monday.

Although not officially identified as member of the notorious private armed group in Samar, the police have been hunting Dealagdon for his involvement in a massacre in Gandara town last October 2015.

The police official said members of Task Force Cagasmas were with them during the raid.

The Philippine National Police formed the task force to arrest all members of private armed groups beyond election-related killings in Samar province.

The task force, a group of army and police directed to disband private armies, has initially identified 132 private armies in Samar with concentrations in Calbayog City, Sta. Margarita, San Jorge, Gandara, and Matuginao towns.

The city police office here vowed to bring hundreds of other fugitives in the region to face justice.

Meanwhile, increased security measures have now been stepped up in the city ahead of village polls on May 14, 2018.

The augmentation of police force is expected to secure the city’s 157 villages.  (JB/PNA)