ILOILO – The most wanted person in the National Capital Region (NCR) for the crimes of rape and homicide in the province of Batangas was arrested in Santa Barbara town around 9:20 a.m. yesterday.
Valintine Zara, 29, was a resident of Barangay Sto. Domingo, Batangas. He had been hiding in Purok IV, Barangay Inangayan, Santa Barbara under the name “Arnel Perez Alegrea”.
The police team that arrested Zara were composed of personnel from the NCR-Southern’s Regional Intelligence Unit, the Police Regional Office 6’s Regional Intelligence Unit and Santa Barbara police station.
They served two arrest warrants for Zara:
* for rape (Criminal Case No. 2010-198-199) issued by Judge Noel Lindog of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), 4th Judicial Branch 87 in Rosario, Batangas, issued on Sept. 29, 2010
* for homicide (Criminal Case No. 17605) issued by Judge Albert Kalalo of RTC 4 Batangas City, Batangas, issued on Jan. 24, 2012
No bail bond was recommended for Zara’s rape case.
According to Sta. Barbara police chief Major Raymund Celoso, Zara has been living in the town for almost nine years because he has a live-in partner there.
“He is known here (Sta. Barbara) as Arnel Perez Alegrea and he told us that he registered his new name in the town of San Rafael, Iloilo because he knows that he is wanted for crimes in NCR,” said Celoso.
Zara was taken to the Santa Barbara police station. He would be shipped to the courts concerned in Batangas./PN
