ILOILO City – The No. 1 most wanted person in Western Visayas was arrested on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at the port area in Barangay Poblacion Zone 2, Estancia, Iloilo.
Ivan Posto, 18, a native of Barangay Baybay, Balud, Masbate but temporarily residing in Barangay San Roque, Estancia, is now in the custody of the Estancia police station.
Posto was arrested by officers of the Estancia police station around 2:57 p.m. through an arrest warrant for the crime of murder and frustrated murder.
According to Estancia police station chief, Police Lieutenant Arniel Buraga, Posto – one of the seven suspects in the killing of fisherman Jaypee Francisco, 33, and wounding his brother, John Dee Francisco, 27, both residents of Barangay Bayuyan, Estancia – was the last to be arrested.
His six other companions, who were all minors when the crime was committed, were arrested first.
“S’ya ang pang-pito na suspect at nangyari ang krimen minor pa s’ya. Lahat na kasama n’ya, na-arrest na. We received reports that he was working sa port ng Estancia, so we served the warrant to him,” Buraga said.
Police records revealed that the incident happened on Aug. 14, 2022, at around 1:40 a.m. at the Reclamation Area in Poblacion, Zone 2, Estancia.
Seven minors, including Posto, stabbed Jaypee to death while John Dee survived and sustained two stab wounds.
Police immediately conducted a hot pursuit operation that resulted in the arrest of Ron-Ron (real name withheld), a resident of Zone 1, Estancia; followed by Sonny and Dan-Dan, both residents of Barangay Bulaqueña, Estancia. All are 17 years old.
In a follow-up operation, police arrested brothers Ren-Ren, 17, and Nonoy, 16, also of Bulaqueña village, and Winny, 16, of Barangay Lumbia, Estancia.
The Francisco brothers were unloading tubs of fish from their boat when the suspects approached them.
Ron-Ron, who was drunk, confronted and punched Jaypee without any apparent cause.
When John Dee saw that his brother was being attacked, he tried to help him. But Ron-Ron’s companions mauled the two brothers and stabbed them.
The victims were rushed to the Jesus Colmenares District Hospital in Balasan town, but Jaypee was declared “dead on arrival”.
The court did not approve a bail bond for Posto’s murder case, and a bond of P200,000 was set for his frustrated murder case.
Meanwhile, this was the third arrest of a wanted person in Estancia town in a week’s span.
On Oct. 28, the town’s No. 9 most wanted man, Barley Fuentes, was arrested in their house in Barangay Daculan for frustrated murder.
The following day, the town’s No. 10 most wanted, Henrick June Caberoy, was arrested in Poblacion for violation of Republic Act 9262, or the Violence Against Women and Children Act./PN
