ILOILO City – A suspect in the death of a barangay tanod in Barangay Bagacay East, Maasin, Iloilo had been arrested.
Jeo Jhim Palermo, 22, of Barangay Arac, Passi City was sitting on a bench at the public plaza of Cabatuan town when caught at around 6 p.m. Sunday.
Tanod Emilio Macaya, 55, was found dead in their village at around 7:25 a.m. of the same day.
Palermo, a construction employee working on an apartment near where the body was found, admitted knowing about the death, said Inspector Oswald Gatuslao, Maasin police chief.
Police learned about Palermo’s location from an uncle.
Palermo denied killing Macaya and tagged a coworker – 19-year-old Delmer Tingson of Barangay Layog, Maasin – as the one who attacked the tanod.
He claimed that he only helped Tingson in dumping the body into a grassy area in Bagacay East where some residents found it.
Palermo was hauled to the detention cell of the Maasin police station.
Macaya told his drinking buddies including fellow village watchmen at around 9 p.m. on Saturday that he was leaving them so he could go home early. But he failed to come home, police investigation showed.
He was found lifeless the following day with a deep laceration on the neck and a stab wound on the chest.
Palermo told the police Macaya went to their construction site and talked to them at around 12 midnight on Saturday.
The construction worker said he went to the comfort room and came back to find Tingson already stabbing Macaya.
“I got scared. I rushed to my bedroom but Tingson later asked me to help him dump the body,” said Palermo.
Afraid that Tingson would “kill” him, too, he kept his silence. “I did not sleep that night,” said Palermo. “My conscience disturbed me. So I called my uncle and told him about it.”
From what investigators have gathered, Macaya left their house and reported to the barangay hall for work at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Murder charges will be filed against the two suspects. Tingson remained at large as of this writing and was being hunted down by the police./PN
