P100,000 bounty up for arrest of Batangas traders’ killers in Maguindanao
Batangas map. INQUIRER FILES
LUCENA CITY – A P100,000 reward has been offered by the local government of Calatagan, Batangas, to anyone who can provide information that could help authorities identify and arrest the perpetrators in the killing of three Calatagan residents in last month.
“To aid in the immediate resolution of this crime and to bring the perpetrators to justice, the Municipality of Calatagan deems it proper to offer a reward of P100,000 to any person who can provide any credible and verifiable information leading to arrest and prosecution of those responsible,” the local government unit (LGU) announced in a post on its Facebook page on Thursday, June 5.
Another post in Filipino read: “The entire town of Calatagan mourns the tragic fate of our beloved fellow Calatagueños — Jhon Luis Olarte, Gerry Olarte, and Ronald Alumno — who were in Maguindanao del Sur working to support their families by delivering farm goods in the area.”
The LGU declared June 5 as a “Day of Mourning” in the locality and ordered that all national flags within the municipality be flown at half-mast “as a sign of collective grief and respect.”
“May their hearts and souls find peace. The government will ensure that justice prevails,” the LGU said.
The bodies of the victims were found on May 31, buried in a shallow grave in Barangay Nabundas in Shariff Saydona Mustapha town.
The bodies were immediately flown back to Manila and brought to Calatagan.
Police reported that a villager in Nabundas alerted the authorities about an unpleasant smell in the area. The residents helped the police dig the ground and found three bodies, hogtied and with gunshot wounds.
According to initial investigations, the three goat dealers were last seen on May 11 inside a white van delivering hybrid goats in Barangay Linangantan, Mamasapano.
The victims were last seen speaking to a local resident who, along with four others, reportedly “robbed them and brought them” to an area in Nabundas where they were buried.
Authorities have already identified five persons of interest.
