MANILA, Philippines — Fugitive Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog was arrested in Taiwan on Wednesday after 10 months in hiding.
Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) representative Lito Banayo made the announcement yesterday, saying Ardot was arrested in Pingtung county for overstaying and violating immigration laws.
Banayo said Ardot was taken into custody by Taiwanese immigration for possible deportation.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Supt. John Bulalacao confirmed the arrest of Ardot, the last Parojinog to be accounted for, after his elder brother Ozamiz mayor Reynaldo “Aldog” Parojinog and several relatives were killed in a police raid in July last year.
“What I can tell you now, that is it confirmed that Ardot Parojinog was arrested (on Wednesday) by the Taiwan government for illegal entry. He has pending warrants of arrest, so when he comes back he will face these cases,” Bulalacao said.
Malacañang welcomed the arrest and assured the public that Ardot would be accountable for his actions.?President Duterte linked the Parojinogs to the illegal drugs trade, which led to a series of police operations against them.
“This is good news. First, what was he doing, hiding in Taiwan if he did not violate any law? As they said, flight is evidence of guilt,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.?
Mayor Parojinog, his wife and 10 others were killed by policemen during a series of anti-drug raids in San Roque Lawis in Ozamiz City on July 30.?Ardot managed to escape and went into hiding.
“To the residents of the town of mayor and councilor Parojinog, we will ensure that there would be justice. If Councilor Parojinog violated a law, he would be investigated and punished for the crime,” Roque added.
Roque said Ardot would be busy answering the charges of illegal possession of firearms against him.
Some trusted men of Ardot reportedly gave away details about him that led to his arrest in Taiwan, sources said.
A source revealed the trusted men, who used to be among the bodyguards of the family, were recently arrested during police operations in Ozamiz City and they spilled the beans on their boss.
Bulalacao added the PNP is now working to get Ardot and make him face all the charges against him.
“Although we have not received official communication from the Taiwan government, the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) is now coordinating with Taiwan government for arrest of Ardot,” Bulalacao said.
Bulalacao said the PNP has no information as to when Ardot will be deported.
“Although we have no date yet, the PNP is always ready to go to Taiwan to fetch Ardot Parojinog. We will file for the process for deportation. He committed several violations during his stay in Taiwan, which was the reason for his arrest. It will take some time before he will be deported, it is not yet definite, because the process may take long, depending on how fast the Taiwan government could process the deportation,” he added.
Bulalacao said the arrest was not initiated by the PNP but only because of the red notice issued by the Interpol since Ardot has no travel documents when he went to Taiwan.?
“So the Taiwan government monitored his presence and true enough, they found out that he had no travel documents when he entered Taiwan,” he said.
Bulalacao said the PNP has no information as to how the Taiwan authorities learned about Ardot.?He noted though the possibility that Ardot used the country’s backdoor when he fled abroad. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Alexis Romero