Cops hunt UPLB murder suspect in Bicol

MANILA, Philippines - Four police teams were dispatched yesterday to the Bicol region to hunt down one of the suspects in the killing of 19-year-old Ray Bernard Peñaranda, a third year BS Agriculture student of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB).

Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Laguna police director, said they received reports that Carl Dactil de Guzman, 26, the driver of the motorcycle used by the gunmen, was spotted in one of the provinces in the Bicol region.

Cruz refused to identify the province for fear of jeopardizing follow-up operations.

De Guzman is the cousin of tricycle driver Percival de Guzman, who was arrested along with a security guard, for the rape-slay of another UPLB student Given Grace Cebanico last year.

Cruz said the reward for information leading to the arrest of De Guzman and another suspect – Tyrone Kennedy Terbio – was raised to P350,000 yesterday.

Laguna Gov. George Ejercito offered P150,000; Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo gave P100,000; Los Baños Mayor Ton Genuino, P50,000; and Tanay, Rizal Mayor Lito Tanjuatco, another P50,000.

A third suspect – Joseph Beltran, alias Zeppo, who was arrested last Monday by the Laguna police pointed to De Guzman as – the driver and Terbio, as the one who allegedly punched and stabbed Peñaranda.

Beltran admitted having acted as the lookout in the robbery-murder.

Cruz said negotiations are underway for the surrender of De Guzman and Terbio. But he warned policemen to be “extra careful,” saying the suspects are “armed and dangerous.”

UPLB installs CCTV cameras

Meanwhile, UPLB officials started installing closed-circuit television cameras in strategic areas of the school compound yesterday.

UPLB Student Council official Pres Panganiban said the move is part of the security precautions following the killing of Peñaranda last Sunday.

At least 12,000 students were enrolled at the UPLB, of whom only around 2,000 are staying in its dormitories.

“The rest are paying rents at dormitories outside because they could no longer be accommodated at the university’s rundown dorms,” Panganiban said.

Panganiban said the UPLB Student Council is monitoring the development of the case, even as they appealed for the deployment of additional policemen in the premises of the university.

Sampaguita vendor buried

Another rape-murder victim in Los Baños, a 14-year-old sampaguita vendor, was buried at the public cemetery Wednesday afternoon.

Police said Estregan assured the parents of the victim that he would pursue justice for their daughter.

The body of Rochel Geronda was found in a banana plantation in Barangay Batong Malake last Feb. 27 in Los Baños, Laguna. The victim was last seen at around 8 p.m. when she left their home in Riverside Subdivision to go to a computer shop.

Chief Inspector Orlando Castil Jr. Laguna-Criminal Investigation and Detection chief, told The STAR, that eight people – including the caretaker of the property where Geronda’s body was recovered and the owner of the house – were invited to the police station for questioning.

The provincial and local government has put up a P100,000 reward for any information that will lead to the arrest of the suspects in the rape-slay case. – With Jaime Laude, Ed Amoroso