Tiyanak – slick ‘robber and  drug peddler’ – finally falls

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

Slippery no more.

A New Year police operation led to the arrest of one of the most notorious thief and robber of Iloilo City.

Jovel Jereso alias “Tiyanak,” 31, a resident of Barangay Tanza Timawa, City Proper, was nabbed Saturday afternoon at Barangay Poblacion, Sigma, Capiz.

Members of the Iloilo City Police Station 1, together with the operatives from the Iloilo City Police Office-City Drug Enforcement Unit (ICPO-CDEU), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA-6), and Sigma Police Station, served against Jereso an arrest warrant for violation of Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).

Major Shella Mae Sangrines, ICPS1 chief, said they finally collared Jereso months after skirting arrest during an anti-narcotics operation on Aug. 18, 2021 inside a cemetery in Tanza village:

It was gathered that he also stayed in a cemetery in Sigma when he was spotted by local authorities.

“He was a new face in the area. So, people became suspicious of him. He was photographed and his picture was sent to other police stations to verify if he was a fugitive,” Sangrines said.

Sangrines learned of Jereso’s whereabouts from one of her personnel who also hails from Sigma town.

The suspect did not resist when arrested.

“His appearance changed a bit because he grew a bit skinny from the last time that he was seen in Iloilo City,” Sangrines said.

Aside from Tiyanak, Jereso is also known by another moniker “Aswang.” Tiyanak and Aswang are mythical flesh-eating creatures in Philippine folklore.

Jereso escaped a dragnet by the police and PDEA-6 operatives by slithering and jumping from one tomb to another inside the Tanza Cemetery at Barangay Tanza Timawa II.

The transaction was consummated with the suspect trading a sachet of suspected shabu for money to an undercover agent.

When he was about to be arrested, Jereso showed anti-drug operatives his running and jumping skills as he made his way out of the cemetery he knew so well.

Police dubbed the suspect as a notorious robber, as he could usually stay in one position for hours and strike at night when his targets are asleep.

Jereso could also ran fast even with both hands cuffed.