Fugitive Cebu cop to yield if...

CEBU CITY — A police corporal wanted for the killing of a tricycle driver taunted authorities last Friday by sending word that he would only surrender if the murder charge against him is downgraded to homicide.

Traffic division chief Julius Caesar Gornez said PO3 Engel-berto Durano sent him this text message: "Nga mo-surrender siya kung ma-minosminosan ang iyang kaso (I will surrender only if my case gets lighter)."

Acting city police chief Alejandro Lapinid, however, said Durano is in no position to make conditions for his surrender.

"He is not in a position to bargain and all he has to do is surrender. Rest assured that no harm will be done on him," Lapinid said when informed of the fugitive’s message.

Gornez knew Durano when he was still chief of the Guadalupe police station, where Durano was last assigned.

Durano is the principal suspect in the killing of tricycle driver Rogelio Bacalso in Busay last Dec. 22.

Three others stand accused with Durano: Rodulfo Robles, Leonardo Jamili Gopar and a certain Joseph. Of the four, only Robles is in jail.

Last week, regional police director Tiburcio Fusillero ordered Durano’s immediate arrest after the Regional Trial Court issued a warrant for his arrest.

He was also implicated in the attempt to silence 14-year-old Lloyd Carampatan, the lone witness to the killing.

Carampatan was taken in by the police for his own safety but an outsider, who inexplicably gained free access to the police camp where Carampatan was staying, managed to befriend the boy.

The outsider, known only as Roy, eventually persuaded the boy to go out with him to a mall. Along the way, Roy shot Carampatan in the head but the boy survived.

Roy was seen escaping in a car in which Durano was once allegedly seen.

Mayor Alvin Garcia gave the police three days to track down Durano.

Lapinid said all police units in Cebu, as well as the National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, have been mobilized to capture Durano, who is also believed to be involved in illegal video carera operations. — Freeman News Service