By Connie Calipay
LEGAZPI CITY – An official of a notorious criminal group operating in Albay province has surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
In a press conference on Monday, NBI-Legazpi Senior Agent Felipe Jimenez said a ground commander of the Concepcion Criminal Gang Group, known as “Marasigan,” surrendered over the weekend.
“Mahalaga ang kanyang pag-surrender sa pagkakuha natin sa kanya dahil sa takot na dulot ng grupong ito (His surrender is important in our efforts to capture him because of the notoriety and fear brought by this group),” he said.
Jimenez said the group also operated in Camarines Sur, Quezon and Laguna.
“Wala na ang Gilbert Concepcion Group, mananahimik na ang Albay lalo na sa Libon, Camarines Sur, Quezon province at Laguna (The Gilbert Concepcion Group is gone. Albay will now be at peace, especially in Libon, Camarines Sur, Quezon province, and Laguna),”Jimenez said.
He said Marasigan joined the group in 2017 as a member and eventually became a ground commander.
“Siya ang in-charge sa perimeter para protektahan ang pa-ikot para pag inaatake o aarestuhin si Gilbert Concepcion group, siya yung unang ma-eencounter ng Philippine National Police or NBI. Since then naging ground commander siya (He was in charge of securing the perimeter to protect the group from attacks or arrests. He would be the first to engage if the PNP or NBI came for the group. Eventually, he became the ground commander),” he said.
Jimenez said Marasigan has nine arrest warrants for various crimes, such as murder, kidnapping with serious illegal detention, attempted murder, and kidnapping.
He said Marasigan had shown them where the firearms owned by Gilbert Concepcion and their group were buried.
After Concepcion was killed, Marasigan took the firearms and hid them in the mountains, Jimenez said.
Jimenez said they also retrieved eight high-powered arms in separate locations in Barangay Alongong and Sitio Pinagbadilan in Barangay Buga.
In an interview, Marasigan said he became part of the group because of a friend.
He wasn’t allowed to leave because he had seen the hideout and the faces of the members.
Marasigan said he surrendered because he wanted to start life anew.
“Mahirap po ang buhay doon sa bundok, atsaka ang pamilya ko, ‘yung dalawang anak at ‘yung asawa ko ay naawa na ako at takot akong mamatay ayoko pang mamatay dahil gusto ko pang masubaybayan ang pamilya ko hanggang sa paglaki (Life in the mountains was hard. I also kept thinking about my family, my two children and my wife. I felt pity for them and I was scared of dying. I don’t want to die yet because I still want to be there for my family and watch my children grow up),” Marasigan said. (With reports from Angelica Joyce Serrano and Valerie Mae Olaño, OJTs/PNA)
