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MANDAUE CITY, Philippines - After evading police arrest for more than a year, the suspect of a gang-related murder on Tuesday surrendered to Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and admitted to his crime.
Upon his surrender, Dimple Mantos, 18, only asked the mayor and the city police director, Superintendent Rodel Calungsod, for one favor - that he not be detained in the Mandaue City Jail.
“Naa man gud daghan nga nagdumot nako didto (A lot of people there hold grudges against me),” said Mantos, a resident of Barangay (village) Guizo.
Mantos said he gave himself up because the relatives of his victim, Arnulfo “Pogi” Neri, whom he believed to be a member of the “Bloods” gang, have been harassing him so much that he already feared for his life.
“Nahadlok naman ko kay gi sige naman ko baharan sa mga parente sa akong napusil (I’m afraid because I’m always being threatened by the relatives of the person I shot),” a teary-eyed Mantos told Cortes.
Mantos said he felt remorse for the shooting. He cried while thinking out loud at what would happen should the court refuse his request not to be detained at the city jail.
Cortes said he would ask Judge Ulrich Cañete to consider Mantos’ request, though the mayor emphasized that the final decision is with the court.
Calungsod has detained Mantos temporarily at the Mandaue City Police Office’s (MCPO) station 1 detention cell. The police director said Mantos would stay there until the court makes a decision.
Mantos said he shot Neri, then 18, in self-defense after the victim allegedly attacked him.
On March 13, 2007, Mantos and Neri were in a drinking spree with friends at a basketball court in Sitio (district) Golden Dragon, Barangay Guizo when Mantos shot Neri, said Senior Police Officer 1 Ramil Morpuz of MCPO’s Investigation and Detection Management Bureau.
Neri’s friends filed affidavits saying Mantos shot Neri without provocation.
But Mantos said Tuesday he shot Neri after the victim tried to stab him with a knife.
He said some of his friends tossed him a gun to protect himself after they saw Neri attacked.
Over the past year, there have been four attempts to arrest Mantos, but the suspect evaded police each time, Morpuz said.
