2 fugitive ex-cops fall

Two former policemen wanted for serious offenses allegedly committed while they were still in the service were arrested in separate operations in Batangas and Manila, authorities reported.

One of those arrested was identified as Ronald Olarte, wanted for incestuous rape and listed as among the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) most wanted persons in the Cordillera, according to a report from the regional police.

He was named as suspect in a crime committed in Baguio City on 1 January 2006 and dropped from the rolls by the Philippine National Police (PNP) the following month, the report said.

That crime earned him a spot in the DILG’s most wanted persons in the Cordillera, as well as a P135,000 bounty for his arrest.

Olarte was arrested in Lipa City, Batangas on Tuesday, after 15 years of hiding.

Members of the PNP Intelligence Group, backed by members of the Lipa Police, Baguio Police, and intelligence operatives of Batangas and CALABARZON, carried out the arrest in Barangay Balintawak, around 8:30 p.m.

Earlier, another former policeman was arrested on charges of carnapping and highway robbery in Paco, Manila.

The suspect identified as Jhovani Chua was arrested by members of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-NCR, Integrity Monitoring Enforcement Group and members of the Highway Patrol Group at the Peninsula Garden Midtown Homes along Quirino Avenue Extension around 4:20 p.m.

Records provided by the PNP showed that Chua and a certain Amiel Arceo were charged for hijacking a cargo truck carrying P600,000 worth of canned juice in Caloocan City in March 2011.

The duo and their cohorts were also accused of killing the truck’s driver and helper.

In June of the same year, Chua and a certain Joel

Samonte were said to have hijacked a van loaded with P380,000 worth of bathroom products in

Quezon City.

Reports from that year indicated that Chua, whose first name was then spelled as “Giovanni,” and Arceo were both policemen ranked PO2 and assigned at the National Capital Region

Police Office. Arceo was arrested in October 2011.

Chua was dismissed from the service in 2011, the PNP said.