Authorities arrested the suspected hitman in the killing of a provincial board member in 2019, Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) reported yesterday.

Richard Namoco Quadra, 45 years old, was arrested late Thursday afternoon, September 7, at Barangay Sta. Catalina in Nueva Ecija’s Talugtug town by virtue of an arrest warrant, the NOPPO report said.

Quadra, a resident of Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, was nabbed based on an arrest warrant issued on July 30, 2021, by Judge Amelia Lourdes Uy Mendoza of Branch 34 of Dumaguete City Regional Trial Court for a murder charge.

Police seized from the suspect a .9 mm handgun loaded with a magazine and 14 rounds of live ammunition.

Quadra will also be charged with violation of the Commission on Elections gun ban and Republic Act 10591 for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Quadra was tagged in the murder of former Board Member Miguel Dungog in 2019 and was implicated in several other killings in the province.

Last March, murder cases were filed before the Department of Justice against expelled Negros Oriental 3rd district Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr., Quadra, the late Alex Mayagma who was shot dead during a police encounter last July 31, and a few others in relation to the death of Dungog. (PNA)