WHEN he was still alive, my ‘tukayo,’ former Manila Mayor Alfredo ‘Fred’ Lim used to tell me that during his time, all work at the Manila’s Finest grind to a halt once one of their members is killed by hardened criminals.

‘Tukayo,’ during those days, if one of our men is killed and the suspect or suspects were able to escape, all our men from the Homicide Division, Theft and Robbery Section, the General Assignment Section, the Mobile Patrol Division and our Intelligence Division automatically leave their offices to hunt the suspects. They forget their other assignments and that is the unwritten rule,” the former Manila Police District and later National Bureau of Investigation director told me.

“We made sure that the cop killers would be dead before our fallen colleague is laid to his final resting peace. We also would hold a funeral march, starting from the Manila Police headquarters to Taft and U.N. Avenue up to Jones Bridge and all the way to Sta. Cruz, Manila to show to the public that we are mourning the death of a good cop,” the best friend of the late icon in sports-writing and our good friend and mentor, Journal Group publisher Gus Villanueva used to tell me.

I remember those words of General Lim each time a PNP personnel is killed in the line of duty. In fact, I cannot remember how many times have I shed tears for members of the police force who have been shot dead by armed drug dealers, car thieves or robbers or insurgents and other lawless elements in the country.

The latest of these policemen killed in action are two members of the Bocaue Municipal Police Station in Bulacan: Police Staff Sergeants Dennis Cudiamat and Gian George Dela Cruz. May their souls rest in peace and may their families and other loved ones get the justice they really deserve.

On Monday, Police Regional Office 3 director Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said that a total of P200,000 cash reward has been offered for any information that would lead to the arrest of the gunman who shot dead the two Bulacan policemen and stole their service firearms around 12 noon last Saturday.

A grieving Fajardo said she has mobilized all her men to arrest the suspect who even had the temerity to finish off one of the slain cops with the latter’s service firearm. The official strongly condemned the attack and assured the families of Cudiamat and Dela Cruz that justice will be served.

A 14-year veteran of the police force, PSSgt. Dela Cruz left his wife and five children, with ages 23, 22, 18, 4 and 2-years old. On the other hand, PSSgt. Cudiamat left a young widow and their three sons with ages 16, 8 and 7-years old. He joined the PNP in 2013.

PNP chief General Rommel Marbil has also led the entire police force in condemning the brutal slaying of the two Bocaue policemen and said that the force will relentlessly pursue is served. In short, Gen. Marbil and Brig. Gen. Fajardo are one in saying that ‘this act of violence against our personnel will not go unpunished, and we will ensure that the full force of the law is brought down upon the perpetrators.’

What a tragic way to die for the two brave Bulacan policemen who really showed courage in the performance of duty and in the end, offered the ultimate sacrifice that won’t be forgotten.

Brig. Gen. Fajardo said that operations are still ongoing to arrest the suspect identified as alias ‘Athan’ as of press time. The man and the 1st suspect to be arrested were brothers said to be engaged in illegal gun trafficking in Bulacan and other parts of Central Luzon.

An investigation showed that members of the Bocaue MPS conducted a buy-bust operation against the brother of the gunman in Sitio Tugatog, NIA Road in Barangay Tambubong around 12 noon last Saturday.

Brig. Gen. Fajardo said that PSSgts. Cudiamat and Dela Cruz were back-up operatives of the team that successfully arrested their main target identified as alias ‘Magat’ after he sold a firearm to a poseur-buyer.

However, it turned out that the suspect has a brother who fled after seeing the policemen making the arrest. The two policemen went after the 2nd suspect who hid in a nearby construction site and began firing at PSSgt. Dela Cruz hitting the latter in the body and thigh before stealing the latter’s PNP-issued firearm.

The gunman later shot PSSgt. Cudiamat as the latter tried to run after him on board a motorcycle. The suspect shot the 2nd cop with his pistol before finishing the latter off with the use of PSSgt. Dela Cruzes’ firearm.

The suspect escaped with the two slain policemen’s firearms. However, he left his caliber .45 pistol at the scene. The gun has been subjected to a ballistics and cross-matching examination to determine if it has been used in the commission of other crimes in the region.

PSSgt. Cudiamat died on the spot while PSSgt. Dela Cruz succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment in a local hospital around 3 p.m. of the same day. Brig. Gen. Fajardo said that recovered from the arrested suspect’s possession were one cal. .38 revolver without serial numbers, a hand grenade, the buy-bust money topped by a marked P1,000 bill and a Rusi 125cc tricycle.

Brig. Gen. Fajardo added that a Honda Beat motorcycle believed used by the 2nd suspect in his escape was recovered in Bgy. Bunsuran 2nd in Pandi. PRO3 agents are actively tracking him using surveillance footage and intelligence reports, the PRO3 director and concurrent PNP spokesperson said.

Criminal charges for violations of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2002 in relation to the Omnibus Election Code and RA 9165 or illegal possession of explosives and double murder are now being prepared against the two suspects, Fajardo said.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon