IN POLICE CUSTODY Road rage suspect Vhon Tanto sits handcuffed inside the police station in Masbate province. PHOTO FROM PHILIPPINE ARMY
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines鈥擳he Army reservist who shot and killed a biker in Quiapo, Manila, early this week over a traffic dispute turned up in his wife鈥檚 home province of Masbate, where he surrendered to police on Friday.
Insp. Conrado de Vera, deputy police chief of Milagros town, Masbate, said suspect Vhon Martin Tanto surrendered to Bangad village chief Freddie Bolivar, who turned him over to a team of soldiers and policemen at 11:45 a.m. on Friday.
De Vera said Tanto, the subject of a nationwide police manhunt, chose to seek refuge in the coastal village of Bangad because his wife traced her roots there. The village is 18 kilometers from the town center.
Army Maj. Virgilio Perez, 9th Infantry Division spokesperson, said Tanto鈥檚 wife, Aniza, sought the help of one of her husband鈥檚 friends in the military to facilitate his surrender.
Tanto, who is on inactive status in the military鈥檚 reserve force, was caught on closed-circuit television聽 (CCTV) camera聽 shooting biker Mark Vincent Garalde several times on Monday night after a fistfight on Casal Street in Manila over a traffic dispute.
Stray bullet
A stray bullet from Tanto鈥檚 gun also hit 18-year-old student Rosell Bondoc, who remains at the Mary Chiles Hospital.聽 The second year student of the Universidad de Manila was hit in the lower back, with the bullet damaging her kidney.
On Thursday, police recovered Tanto鈥檚 car, a red Hyundai Eon, from his brother-in-law鈥檚 house in Aritao town in Nueva Vizcaya province.
De Vera said the team of soldiers and police who took in Tanto in Masbate failed to recover any firearm. The suspect later told police that he聽 left his guns with his brother-in-law in Nueva Vizcaya.
The former soldier was taken to the Masbate police headquarters for temporary custody on Friday afternoon.聽 Murder and frustrated murder charges will be filed against him when he arrives in Manila.
Philippine National Police Director General Ronald 鈥淏ato鈥� dela Rosa will be on hand to oversee Tanto鈥檚 expected arrival in Manila today.
鈥淲e will give him a villain鈥檚 welcome,鈥� Dela Rosa said in a press briefing on Friday evening at Camp Crame. He said he would welcome the suspect with 鈥渁 deadly curse and a fatal glare. 鈥�
Boxing lessons
While the welcome will be 鈥渘oncontact,鈥澛� the PNP chief joked that he would teach Tanto 鈥渂oxing.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 bad at fistfighting, that鈥檚 why he pulled a gun,鈥� Dela Rosa said.
Tanto was in Masbate where members of the 9th Infantry Division headed by Col. Ferdinand Hidalgo made the arrest on Friday.
According to Senior Supt. Joel Coronel, Manila Police District (MPD) director,聽 it appeared that Tanto, who was unarmed when arrested, traveled by land using public transportation, 鈥渁voiding major terminals and seaports.鈥�
Coronel gave assurance of Tanto鈥檚 safety on his way to Manila. 鈥淵ou have my personal guarantee,鈥� he聽 said.
But those who helped Tanto evade the law will be charged with 鈥渉arboring and concealing a fugitive and for providing assistance,鈥澛� Coronel said, adding that Tanto鈥檚 relatives appear to be cooperating with authorities so far.
Companion
Meanwhile, Garalde鈥檚 mother on Friday thanked authorities for the arrest of the road rage suspect, but said she was not yet ready to face the man who killed her son.
鈥淚鈥檇 have to get out [of the room]. I might kill [him]. I can鈥檛 bear to see him,鈥� Marilou Garalde said hours after Tanto鈥檚 arrest.
The suspect鈥檚 safety on his way to Manila was of no interest to her, she said. 鈥淩egardless of whether聽 he arrives on his feet or [on his back] 鈥� it鈥檚 up to him, as long as I don鈥檛 get to see him,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he pain I鈥檓 feeling right now [might be] equivalent to what I鈥檓 going to do to him,聽 that鈥檚 why I leave it all to prayer鈥� that this case would move forward and won鈥檛 end in vain.鈥�
Garalde, who signed the murder complaint against Tanto on Friday at St. Peter鈥檚 Chapel in Quezon City, where her son lies in state, also appealed to Tanto鈥檚 companion to come forward and shed more light on the incident.
Superior strength
Case investigator SPO2 Charles Duran on Thursday said the suspect had a female passenger, 鈥渘ot his wife,鈥� who stayed inside the car and yelled at him when he was about to shoot Garalde.
Family lawyer Persida Acosta, the chief of the Public Attorneys Office, said murder charges were filed against the suspect because there was 鈥渁buse of superior strength,鈥� when a 鈥渧engeful鈥� Tanto gunned down the victim after a聽 fistfight.
Meanwhile, Manila Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, who paid her last respects to the victim yesterday, said the city would work on purchasing high-definition cameras to help solve crimes.聽 Currently, she said, each of the city鈥檚 896 barangays has at least 16 cameras installed on the streets.
Garalde will be laid to rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina on Tuesday.
In Caloocan City on Friday, Mayor Oscar Malapitan offered a P100,000 bounty for Tanto鈥檚 arrest after learning that the road rage victim was a resident of Barangay 130, Caloocan. The reward was announced only hours before Tanto鈥檚 arrest.
Blood specimen
On Thursday, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada聽 offered a similar P100,000 incentive for any information that would lead the suspect鈥檚 arrest.
Meanwhile, members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives of the Manila Police District conducted a 鈥樷�檙eenactment鈥� of the June 25 incident, whose CCTV video had since gone viral.
MPD homicide section chief, Senior Insp. Rommel Anicete, said the police had found blood specimen inside Tanto鈥檚 car near the window on the driver鈥檚 side, which could give investigators additional information about what happened.
The police official also stood by his earlier pronouncement that Tanto was alone in the car based on an eyewitness account. With reports from Jaymee Gamil, Tetch Torres-Tupas, Inquirer.net, and Mar S. Arguelles and Michael B. Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon/TVJ
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