Cops kills 3 cattle thieves
BICOL policemen early morning Friday shot dead three armed suspected cattle-rustlers following a gunbattle in Goa, Camarines Sur which also left one officer seriously wounded, Police Regional Office 5 (PRO5) Director, Brigadier General Jonnel C. Estomo said.
The official said that a fourth suspect was found with gunshot wounds in their escape route while two others are still being hunted as of press time. He added that Police Senior Master Sergeant Reuben Pesigan Jr. suffered gunshot wounds in the body and was taken to the nearest hospital for treatment.
According to Brig. Gen. Estomo, the suspects clashed with members of the Camarines Sur Police Provincial Office, the Goa, and Ocampo Municipal Police Stations, and the Iriga City Police Station around 3:30 a.m. Friday in Barangay Pinaglabanan in Goa municipality.
“It was an intelligence-driven operation triggered by persistent reports about the involvement of the suspects in massive cattle-rustling activities in the province,” said the PRO5 director.
Estomo said that officers were approaching the suspects when they were fired upon, some of the bullets striking Senior MSgt. Pesigan.
Other members of the team retaliated killing three of the suspects on the spot. The three other armed men managed to flee on foot towards the direction of Tinambac municipality.
However, pursuing policemen managed to recover one of the wounded suspects in Bgy. Cagaycay in Goa and took him to the municipal infirmary for treatment.
The identities of the suspects are still being established by local police investigators as of press time. A local Scene-of-the-Crime-Operations (SOCO) team was also dispatched at the scene of the clash to help retrieve evidence including weapons used by the suspects, said Camarines Sur PPO Director, Col. Bernardo M. Perez.
Brig. Gen. Estomo said that the clash with the armed cattle thieves came in the wake of their intensified anti-criminality operations in the entire Bicol region as directed by Philippine National Police chief, General Dionardo B. Carlos.
Gen. Carlos has ordered Southern Luzon Area Police Commander, Lieutenant Gen. Ferdinand O. Divina to fully supervise the PRO4’s aggressive campaign against all forms of major crimes and insurgency in Bicol and other provinces in Southern Luzon.
