By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Former Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) officer Ruel Villacanas was arrested over the weekend in relation to a 2003 kidnapping and murder case of a barangay captain and two maritime instructors.
The former police officer had been one of seven named in the August 31, 2003 kidnap and murder of former Barangay Pahanocoy Captain Eleuterio Salabas, and maritime instructors Ricardo Suganob and Maximo Lomoljo, Jr.
In an interview with local media, Villacanas, who was caught on Saturday at the Provincial Capitol Lagoon and Park along Lacson Street, said he fled to General Santos City after a warrant for his arrest was issued.
The suspect has denied any links to the murder.
In 2011, Judge Teresa Soriaso of the Manila Regional Trial Court-Branch 27 found former Senior Police Officer 2 (SPO2) Freddie Natividad, and Police Chief Inspectors Clarence Dongail and Jimmy Fortaleza guilty and sentenced them each to 120 years behind bars.
Meanwhile, Villacanas appealed to his fellow suspects to surrender./WDJ