Second suspect in murder of Lebanese, Filipino wife arrested in Basilan

COTABATO CITY — Policemen on Thursday morning arrested the second of the two men tagged in the brutal killing of a Lebanese businessman and his Filipino wife in a gun attack in Zamboanga City last week.

Brig. Gen. Jaysen C. De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Thursday that the 23-year-old suspect was arrested by policemen in Sitio Libi, Barangay Bulanting after villagers and local executives reported his presence in the area.

This followed the arrest of his accomplice last Monday, who confessed to killing the couple with a pistol.

In a gun attack, the two suspects killed the Lebanese national Fahed L. Hamdan and his Filipino spouse, Annora, inside their printing press and internet shop.

“It was for the help of local executives and traditional community leaders in Basilan that our police units in the province managed to locate them one after another,” Mr. De Guzman said.

Officials of the Basilan Provincial Police Office will immediately turn over the 23-year-old suspect to the Zamboanga City Police Office, according to Mr. De Guzman.

The two of them separately told police officials in Basilan that they were hired by an owner of a roadside carwash establishment in Zamboanga City to kill the couple.

“They two individuals shall soon have their day in court,” Mr. De Guzman said. — John Felix M. Unson