T’WAS another sad day for the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday as a patrolman from the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) who was shot in a gunbattle with two heavily-armed kidnappers in Pililla, Rizal, last June 14 passed away after fighting for his life in a hospital for 13 days.

PNP Officer-in-Charge (PNP-OIC), Lieutenant General Vicente D. Danao Jr. could not hide his emotion when he talked with the family of the brave but fallen Patrolman Joshua Lingayo, a native of Lubuagan, Kalinga province, who offered the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

“We grieve for another policeman killed in the performance of duty. He may not be with us anymore, but rest assured that his memory will not be forgotten,” said the top cop when he visited the wake of the fallen officer at the PNP Mortuary in Camp Crame and gave him a posthumous PNP medal for bravery.

He said they are mourning the death of a policeman who “risked his life” to help fight kidnappers in the country. “The whole PNP organization mourns the loss of our comrade who displayed bravery and gallantry and offered the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty,” he said.

The slain cop’s family received financial assistance from Lt. Gen. Danao, the PNP-AKG leadership, and other benefits from the Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund, Inc.

His other benefits that will come from the Office of the President, the PNP Special Financial Assistance and Napolcom (National Police Commission) fund, and the PSSLAI are being processed by the PNP-AKG as of press time.

The 24-year-old Lingayo joined the PNP-AKG in 2019, becoming one of its first recruits.

PNP-AKG Director Brig. Gen. Rudolph B. Dimas remembered Lingayo as a “hardworking” anti-kidnapping agent who was not afraid to take the risk to fulfill his sworn duty to fight kidnappers in the country.

Both Gen. Danao and Brig. Gen. Dimas told the Journal Group they are deeply saddened by the death of one of their men who was only doing his job.

“Pat. Lingayo is one of the many policemen who have offered their lives in the line of duty, although not many have remembered their sacrifices,” the PNP-OIC said while trying hard to control his tears.

He also called on the country, the media, in particular, to don’t forget the heroism of these fallen policemen, and even for a day or to make it a point to focus on their sacrifices and the families they have left, just like the way many Filipinos would turn a simple act, a picture or a video into a viral Facebook post.

Lt. Gen. Danao said he was sad because he thought Pat. Lingayo would survive his wounds when he visited him in his hospital bed since he was already responding to instructions from doctors and would even raise his thumb to say he would be okay.

A bullet penetrated the policeman’s abdomen and shattered his kidney and liver. For 13 days, doctors in a Pasig hospital gave their best to save the victim but after 13 days, the PNP-AKG operative passed away.

Brig. Gen. Dimas said that Lingayo was one of the PNP-AKG agents who engaged the two kidnappers in a gunfight in Pililla, Rizal. However, one of the suspects managed to shoot the victim before he and his cohort were gunned down.

The top cop commended the PNP-AKG for a job well done in rescuing two kidnapping-for-ransom victims and launching the follow-up operation that left the two armed suspects dead in Pililla, Rizal last June 14.