Teen nabbed after bolting from youth reform center

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A teenage boy facing a theft charge was arrested anew two weeks after he fled from a youth reformation home.

Tan-Tan (not his real name), 17, of Barangay Rizal, La Paz, Iloilo City, was collared at 11 a.m. on June 5 at Sitio Lunok, Barangay San Pedro, Jaro district.

Members of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO)-City Intelligence Unit, together with personnel from the Iloilo City Police Stations 2 and 3, nabbed the suspect by virtue of an arrest warrant for theft in Criminal Case No. 23-88960.

Judge Regina Centenera Galang-Guarin of the Regional Trial Court Branch 30 in Iloilo City issued the warrant on May 22, 2023.

He was not allowed to post bail for his temporary freedom.

Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Benitez, Jr., ICPO-CIU chief, said Tan-Tan was arrested on May 6, 2023 for the same offense.

Since he was a minor, he was placed in the custody of Balay Dalayunan, a home for the reformation of boys identified as children in conflict with the law.

But he fled from Balay Dalayunan on May 21.

The following day, the court re-issued an arrest warrant against him.

The suspect was accused of allegedly stealing from a store in La Paz district.

Aside from the theft charge, Benitez said there on reports that Tan-Tan was also accused of frustrated homicide in Jaro district.