Cagayan vice mayor’s killers posed as cops
THE gunmen who killed Aparri, Cagayan Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda and his five companions in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya on Sunday were believed to have posed as policemen by setting up a checkpoint while wearing “camouflage uniforms’” similar to those being used by the police force, officials said yesterday.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said they are looking into the very big possibility that the assassins made it appear they are “policemen or military troops” by wearing the camouflage uniforms.
“Linawin lang natin na walang PNP members ang involved dito. Ang tinitingnan natin ay maaaring itong mga suspect ay nagsuot lang ng mga uniform to make it appear na sila ay mga lehitimong government forces noong sila ay maglagay ng unauthorized checkpoint doon sa lugar ng ambush,” Fajardo said.
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. has ordered a massive hunt for the killers who gunned down Vice Mayor Alameda and his companions.
The victims were in a black Hyundai Starex when ambushed on the highway in Sitio Kinacao, Bgy. Baretbet in Bagabag municipality.
At least six suspects wearing pixelized uniforms and their faces covered with masks fled in a white Mitsubishi Adventure with the red plate number SFN-713.
The top cop directed PRO2 director Brig. Gen. Percival A. Rumbaoa to supervise the conduct of pursuit operations against the killers.
The assassins reportedly blocked a section of the street in front of the MV Duque Elementary School in Bgy. Baretbet to waylaid the victims.
Fajardo said that the plate number was found to be registered to an Isuzu truck owned by the Nueva Vizcaya State University, which has long been junked after being tagged as beyond economical repair.
She said that the killers could have stolen the same license plate and attached it to their getaway vehicle to mislead investigators.
