PNP: Suspect in Palawan massacre nabbed

Police operatives on Thursday arrested the suspect in last Monday’s killing of a retired Navy official and four of his family members inside a military complex in Palawan province. Florencio Magada Jr., 34, was arrested in Brgy. Bacungan in Puerto Princesa City at about 1 a.m. for allegedly killing retired Lt. Cmdr. Ernesto Paiton and his family and relatives, said Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. Paiton, his wife Chief Petty Officer Carmelita Paiton, daughter Erlita, and relatives Sharon and Renato Cabatuan, were murdered inside their house at the Naval Officers’ Village in Barangay San Miguel in Puerto Princesa City. According to the police, Magada was caretaker of Paiton’s farm before he was fired for a still unknown reason. A background check on the suspect revealed that he has a pending arrest warrant for two counts of rape filed before the Puerto Princesa City Trial Court. Recovered from Magada was a white T-shirt with blood stains and two bladed bolos, which will be submitted to the PNP Crime Laboratory for investigation, Cruz said. The Philippine Navy, through its public information officer Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, lauded the arrest of the suspect. “The Philippine Navy is comforted by the report that the suspect was already apprehended by the police.... We congratulate the members of the team led by the PNP for the immediate resolution of the crime by bringing the purported killer to the bar of justice," Arevalo said in a statement. - KBK, GMANews.TV