Ex-cop, driver wanted in Catherine Camilon case arrested in Batangas

Authorities arrested former Police Major Allan de Castro and his driver in connection with the disappearance of beauty pageant contestant Catherine Camilon in Balayan, Batangas, it was reported Wednesday.

According to Police Regional Office 4A, De Castro was apprehended at around 7:47 p.m.on Saturday, September 14 in Barangay Caloocan.

During the same operation, authorities also arrested De Castro’s driver-bodyguard, Jeffrey Magpantay almost an hour later.

The two men are facing kidnapping and serious illegal detention for their alleged involvement in the disappearance of the beauty queen, who went missing in 2023.

Charges against both suspects were initially dropped on May 15 due to a lack of evidence, however both suspects now face the same charges with no recommended bail filed by the Batangas Regional Trial Court.

In hearings on Camilon’s disappearance early this year, de Castro was cited in contempt for allegedly not telling the truth and was kept in Senate detention.

He was released two days later by Senator Bato dela Rosa on "humanitarian" grounds.

 De Castro was alleged to be in a relationship with the former beauty queen before her reported disappearance, while Magpantay served as his driver-bodyguard.

The ex-cop was reportedly supposed to meet Camilon on the day of her disappearance, which he denied.

Camilon was last seen passing some towns on Batangas with a companion via CCTV footage on October 12.

Witnesses later claimed that they saw a bloodied Camilon being transferred to a different vehicle on the same day, while Magpantay was in the area.

Testing of an abandoned vehicle located in the area by the police later revealed hair and blood that matched the DNA profile of Camilon's parents.

“Hair strands at blood na nakita dun sa sasakyan ay nag-match dun sa DNA profile na binigay ng magulang ni Ms. Catherine Camilon,” PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Director Major General Romeo Caramat Jr. said. 

(The hair strands and blood recovered from the SUV matched the DNA profile of Camilo’s parents.)

“’Yung mga witness natin ay hindi nagsisinungaling. There is a corroborative evidence na talagang nakita nilang babae na binubuhat ng mga suspect natin ay certainly si Miss Camilon,” said Caramat. 

(Our witnesses did not lie. There's corroborative evidence that the woman they saw was Miss Camilon.)
—Jiselle Casucian and Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News