By LITO RULONA
and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents
POLICE arrested a fugitive, long wanted for murder, in Barangay Tignapoloan, this city, on Wednesday afternoon.
Members of the Lumbia police and Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) seized assorted weapons and bladed weapons from the suspect identified as 25-year old Michael Manrique a.k.a. Maymay, of Sitio Mabayag, Barangay Tignapoloan.
Supt. Virgil Menesses, CIU chief, said Manrique has long been wanted because of a murder case.
Menesses said police seized from Manrique’s house a caliber .45 pistol, an improvised caliber .357 revolver, a caliber .22 rifle, two home-made shotguns, and assorted ammunition.
Police also found and seized a jungle bolo and a hunting knife.
Police said there was also an arrest warrant for Manrique’s brother Jun but the fugitive was able to elude arrest.
Authorities said the suspect could not show papers to support the gun ownership.
Manrique said the guns belonged to his father who is working in Talakag, Bukidnon.
“Pang-baboy ra man kadto nga mga armas. Gamit namo ni sa maisan,” he said.
He said he was aware that there was an arrest warrant against him in connection with the killing of one of his neighbors last year.
“Gitigbas ko man to. Bingkil-bingkil sa inum,” he said.
Yesterday, city police director Senior Supt. Faro Antonio Olaguera presented Manrique to Mayor Oscar Moreno along with another crime suspect identified as Ramil Nafarete of Barangay Pagalungan. The two were in the police’s list of most wanted people here.
Olaguera told Moreno that Manrique was ordered arrested by Judge Emmanuel Pasal over the killing of Fernil Laba-on last year.
He said police are now looking for Manrique’s brother Jun and father Felipe.
Olaguera also presented the 41-year old Nafarete, a theft suspect, to Moreno. The suspect was arrested at around 4 pm on Wednesday in Barangay Pagalugan based on a warrant issued by Judge Pasal.
Police said Nafarete yielded an unlicensed gun.
Olaguera said Manrique and Nafarete would be charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and of violating the election gun ban.
