Authorities nab another suspect in Ortega killing in Palawan

MANILA, Philippines [UPDATED] – The second suspect in the killing of Palawan broadcast journalist Gerry Ortega was nabbed by special agents in Pasig City after weeks-long surveillance operations.

In early Sunday, May 6, Percibal Bacomo Lecias, 44, one of the personal aides of former Palawan Governor Joel T. Reyes, the accused mastermind, was nabbed by agents of the enforcement arm of the City government of Puerto Princesa.

Lecias, who was supposed to surrender but changed his mind last April, was in a hideout in Barangay Caniogan in Pasig City, according to Special Operations Group (SOG) head Randy Suelo.

Suelo said they expected Lecias to turn himself in after his buddy, Arturo Regalado, did.

Both Lecias and Regalado worked as personal aides of former Governor Reyes, who now has a P1.55-M bounty on his head after he went on hiding together with his brother and Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, following the daylight killing of Ortega last January 24, 2011.

Authorities allege that Lecias produced the gun used to kill the broadcast journalist who was then in a used clothing store in Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan, when he was gunned down.

In a statement, the Ortega family said Lecia’s arrest “gives our family some relief and much hope that the wanted fugitives…will soon be apprehended…We will not stop fighting for justice until the day the guilty behind the murder of my father are punished accordingly.” – Rappler.com