Western Visayas’ No. 1 ‘most wanted’ nabbed

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A seaweed grower on the “most wanted” list in Western Visayas was arrested at Caluya, Antique afternoon of Sept 9, 2022.

Police collared 40-year-old Roland Castañeda at his home at Sitio Magtang, Barangay Harigue, Caluya.

Members of Caluya Municipal Police Station,  Regional Intelligence Division (RID)-6, Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU)-6, Antique Police Provincial Office-Provincial Intelligence Unit, and Maritime Police Station-Antique collared Castañeda for two counts of violation of Republic Act 8353 (The Anti-Rape Law of 1997) docketed as Criminal Case Numbers 22-CA-086-CR and 22-CA-087-CR.

Judge Josefina Fulo Muego of the Regional Trial Court in Culasi, Antique issued the arrest warrant on Aug. 25, 2022.

No bail was set for his temporary liberty.

The Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 tagged Castañeda as the No. 1 most wanted person in the region.

Top most wanted persons are those included in the Top 10 (Municipal/Province/Region lists) with pending warrants of arrest for crimes that are not eligible for bail. Also included in the list are individuals with pending warrants who have monetary rewards for their capture.

The “Other Wanted Persons” are those with pending warrants of arrest that were not categorized as Top Most Wanted.

Accordingly, every province and municipality maintains a list of the Top 10 Most Wanted.

Castañeda’s warrant stemmed from the case lodged by his stepdaughter sometime in March 2021.

But Staff Sergeant Jaylord Dubria, Caluya police investigation, said the alleged rape happened in January 2020.

Brigadier General Leo Francisco, Western Visayas police chief, lauded the joint operatives for the accomplishment.

“Nahuli natin ang taong ito hindi lamang dahil sa sipag ng ating mga operatiba, kundi sa impormasyon na pinapaabot sa atin ng taumbayan at nagpapasalamat po tayo sa tiwala na kanilang ipinagkaloob sa atin. Kaya sa mga natitirang may pananagutan sa batas, mas mainam kung kayo’y sumuko na lamang. Ang ating kapulisan ay hindi tumitigil upang hanapin at hulihin kayo,” Francisco said.

It can be noted that for the first eight months of this year, PRO-6 accounted for 4,242 wanted persons regionwide.

The number included 680 most wanted persons and 3,562 other wanted persons.