By JEN BAYLON

Suspended La Castellana Councilor Donato Dumaguit surrendered to authorities on Wednesday morning, October 2, after being implicated in an alleged recruitment scam to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

La Castellana police chief Major Rhojn Nigos said Dumaguit surrendered before his arraignment scheduled on that day.

He posted bail amounting to P220,000 for 12 counts of estafa filed against him.

However, following his release, Dumaguit was served with a new arrest warrant, concerning an additional count of estafa.

Dumaguit is temporarily detained at the municipal police station.

Earlier, 11 large-scale estafa charges were filed against Dumaguit and Mary Jun delos Santos in connection to the alleged recruitment scam in the PNP.

In December last year, the La Castellana Sangguniang Bayan unanimously suspended Dumaguit, and slapped a P3,000 fine against the councilor over his failure to attend regular and special sessions.

The victims — 37 from La Castellana, two from Bacolod City and six from Moises Padilla town — have paid P247,000 to P300,000 each for admission to the PNP, even if they were ineligible.

Dumaguit, who had gone into hiding for months, earlier claimed he was also victimized by Delos Santos, the primary suspect in the alleged recruitment scam./JB, WDJ