PNP says party-list nominee not abducted, but arrested for murder charges

The party-list nominee who claimed to have been abducted by policemen was actually collared in the service of arrest warrants for two counts of murder, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday, Feb. 3, as it denied the allegation of kidnapping and attempted assassination.

PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said it is Magsasaki Party-list nominee Lejun dela Cruz who has a lot of explaining since his attempt to escape arrest led to the damage of four vehicles and a motorcycle.

Worse, according to Fajardo, Dela Cruz even hit a policeman with his vehicle while trying to escape from arresting law enforcers.

“When the arrest warrant was being served, he pulled out his gun and boarded his vehicle which led to a car chase,” said Fajardo.

Dela Cruz, reportedly a former commander of communist rebel liquidation group Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), claimed that he was abducted by the police in Pasig City after a car chase that started in Cainta, Rizal.

He was allegedly forced to flee after the policemen, who were not in proper uniform, tried to accost him. The cops allegedly even fired shots at him.

Dela Cruz, according to Fajardo, is now under the custody of the Eastern Police District (EPD), specifically in a detention facility in Marikina City. 

“There’s no truth of assassination attempt on the life of Mr. Dela Cruz. On the contrary, he was the one who fired shots at the policemen and even hit one of our men,” said Fajardo.

She said the policeman is currently confined for pelvic fracture.

Fajardo said the service of the arrest warrant, issued by a court in Las Piñas City in 2018, would have been hassle-free had dela Cruz cooperated with the arresting officers.

With the incident, Fajardo said additional charges will be filed against dela Cruz, including violation of gun ban, malicious mischief and illegal possession of firearms.