Punay in pensive mood after his arrest. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)
A 39-year-old lady pastor was taken hostage by a self-confessed drug user past 1 p.m. yesterday in Sitio Saac, Barangay Buaya, Lapu-Lapu City.
Mirasol Plaza, married with one child and pastor of Harvest Family Center under the Victory Church, was surprised when her neighbor Glyn Punay, 35, suddenly entered her house.
Punay, who is separated from his wife, reportedly locked the door and closed the windows while taking hostage Plaza and her visitor and neighbor, a 13-year old girl.
SPO4 Jose Ruel Nalzaro, investigator of Pusok Police Station, said he immediately dispatched the police personnel, including the SWAT team to the area after receiving a call from a neighbor of Plaza regarding the incident around 1:20 p.m.
Upon arriving at the area, PO3 Ron Vincent Gaite, a trained negotiator, asked Punay to surrender, but the latter demanded that he would yield only to lawyer Clarence Paul Oaminal and his cousin Carlo.
But when Barangay Buaya Councilor Ricky Abing arrived and started negotiating with the suspect, it took him only around 20 minutes to convince Punay to surrender.
He was a former landscaper and designer of a real estate company but no longer have a permanent job as of the present.
Punay, in an interview with Cebu Daily News, narrated that there were persons who kept tailing on him and wanted to harm him.
According to him, he also heard gunfires yesterday morning, prompting him to run and seek the advice of Plaza.
He added that the night before the incident, he attended a wake of a relative and wasn’t able to sleep.
Though Plaza had forgiven Punay, SPO4 Nalzaro will file a case against him for causing alarm and public scandal.