Tragic Sunday as two cops killed in line of duty
It was a tragic Sunday for members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) here as two officers were killed in separate incidents, both in line of duty.
In Iloilo, first victim was PO2 Rino Pama of Anilao Police Office who was hit by a speeding motorcycle minutes after his team was setting a police checkpoint. The incident occurred along the national highway of said town with Pama among the Anilao operatives responding to an alarm on a robbery-hold up in nearby town of Banate, Iloilo.
The motorcycle driver, Alex Dalde is now in police custody pending the charges set to be filed against him. He told probers that he failed to see the police team and found it too late to swerve when he saw and hit PO2 Pama. The victim-cop sustained serious head injury when he slammed on the roadside upon impact that caused his instantaneous death. He was rushed by buddies at the Barotac Nuevo District Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival by attending physicians.
Later in the evening, a similar fate for the PNP in the Province of Antique when a routinary police response turned tragic.
Yet police now have in custody the principal suspect in Sunday's shooting incident that killed a neophyte cop in the town of Culasi. With charges now being readied, authorities identified their main man as one Leonardo Loyola, Jr. of Barangay Malacañang of said town.
Insiders told The News Today (TNT) that the surrender came after a daylong negotiation between police and folks close to Loyola Jr. who reportedly owned up to the killing.
Several witnesses have since given their accounts of the incident that occurred within minutes of police response to a commotion at the height of Sunday's town fiesta celebration.
A member of the 1st Antique Provincial Mobile Group (APMG), the victim-cop, PO1 Faustino Cagay was pronounced dead on arrival when rushed to the Culasi District Hospital. He was shot at close range and sustained one gunshot wound on his left chest that proved fatal.
Efforts are underway to give Loyola Jr. due recognition and honors for having been killed in line of duty.
Similar move is expected for PO2 Pama who belongs to the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) command.