By CYRUS M. GARDE
BACOLOD City — The person who informed the authorities about the presence of murder suspect Noel Ayalin in Zambales is set to get the P800,000 reward, the Negros Occidental police director said.
Now that Ayalin was arrested, the families of those he allegedly killed can finally get justice, said Senior Supt. Milko Lirazan.
Lirazan said the informant will soon be given the reward raised for any information that could lead to Ayalin’s arrest.
Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and the Philippine National Police offered P500,000, but the Silay City government added P300,000.
Ayalin, former barangay captain of Kapitan Ramon, Silay City, Negros Occidental, and one of the Top 20 most wanted persons in Western Visayas, was arrested in Iba, Zambales, on Thursday.
A Silay City resident who was in Iba took a video of Ayalin and went back to Silay to present it to Kapitan Ramon Barangay Captain Ramon Celebre, who positively identified the fugitive.
While in Iba, Ayalin was selling buko juice in front of a hospital in the morning and at the public market in the afternoon, said the informant.
Celebre and the informant sought the help of Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, who provided them with plane tickets to Manila.
Benitez then reached for Senior Supt. Crizaldo Nieves, Nueva Ecija police director, who commissioned the intelligence officer Supt. Andrew Aguirre and two noncommissioned police officers for the operation.
They also gathered Celebre, the informant and Armando Occeña, the father of one of Ayalin’s murder victims, Sangguniang Kabataan president Aimee Occeña.
Ayalin fled from Negros Occidental after shooting officials of Brgy. Kapitan Ramon, Silay City, killing four and wounding several others, including Celebre, on March 6, 2011.
He is facing nine charges for murder and frustrated murder at the Regional Trial Court in Silay. No bail was recommended for his temporary liberty.
The informant said Ayalin and his family have been hiding in Iba since 2011; the suspect’s wife has a cousin in the town.
At about 4 p.m. on Thursday, Ayalin was surprised when policemen pounced on him while he was selling buko juice. He resisted arrest but calmed down upon seeing Celebre and Armando Occeña.
Ayalin was taken to Camp Olivas in San Fernando, Pampanga, for a medical checkup and proper documentation.
Lirazan said he will send intelligence operatives to fetch Ayalin in Central Luzon./PN
