Altar boy of terror falls

What could have driven a former altar boy, barely out of his teens, to rob, kill and sow terror in his neighborhood in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City?

This was the question raised by at least five of the suspect’s victims and their relatives, who trooped to the Caloocan police headquarters after Dennis Manalo, 20, single, jobless, a native of Paglaum Village, Bacolod City, was arrested by Station Intelligence and Investigation Division (SIID) agents, led by PO1 Vladimir Binayug on Saturday.

Manalo’s victims blamed the police for the alleged deteriorating peace and order situation in their area.

Manalo, a resident of Phase 7A, Package 10, Block 17, Lot 29, Bagong Silang is the alleged leader of a group calling themselves the "Bulabog Gang." The group has been implicated in 14 killings and several robbery-holdup cases in his neighborhood. In his cell, Manalo admitted to the murder of at least four persons in the past. A warrant for his arrest is pending at the sala of Caloocan City regional trial court Judge Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal (Branch 127).

Manalo pointed to his cohorts as Roderick de Paz alias "Odek", Elmer Valdeviezo, Butchoy Pinto, "Lengleng," "Boyd," "Santi," "Willard," "Ome," and "Larry San Felipe." De Paz and Valdeviezo are both detained at the Caloocan City Jail, on charges of robbery-holdup and murder, respectively. The rest, implicated in the same criminal activities, remain at large.

Manalo said they got their firearms from Letre and Dagatdagatan, naming a certain Lando de Paz and an alias "Ruben" as their contact men, both residents of Phase 7A in Bagong Silang. Both are still at large.

Imelda Abijuela, a teacher from Bagong Silang, told The STAR his son Frenime, 19, a third-year student at the Philippine Normal University (PNU) died in the hands of Manalo only last Dec. 15. Frenime, whom Manalo’s group ran into after robbing someone in the area, was shot once in the chest after asking them what they were running away from. Manalo allegedly told him to get out of the way at the same time firing at the young Abijuela.