After 40 years in hiding, man charged with murder arrested by NBI in Baguio City
After boasting he had killed someone, a man was arrested in Baguio City by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which discovered that he has been a fugitive from justice for more than 40 years.
The NBI identified the arrested fugitive as Mario C. Lumague who is the subject of an arrest warrant for a murder charge issued on Feb. 27, 1987 by the Baguio City Regional Trial Court (RTC) after he escaped from police custody in 1984.
Lumague, a taxi driver, was arrested by operatives of the NBI Cordillera Administrative Region (NBI-CAR) last Sept. 4 in his rented apartment in Upper Pinget, Baguio City.
During a drinking session with his fellow taxi drivers, the NBI learned that Lumague boasted that he killed somebody in Baguio City in 1980’s, and that, after being arrested, he was able to escape from the custody of his arresting officers and went into hiding.
After conducting a verification, the NBI said it found that Lumague was charged with murder before the Baguio City court in 1983, but escaped from police custody before his scheduled court hearing on Nov. 19, 1984.
Lumague is now detained at the Baguio City Jail Male Dormitory.