PNP-IMEG collars suspect in 2007 killing of neighbor
PHILIPPINE National Police Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) Director Brigadier General Samuel C. Nacion, on Thursday, announced the arrest of a dismissed Rizal policeman wanted for the 2007 killing of his 19-year-old neighbor in Pasay City.
In a report to PNP Officer-in-Charge (PNP-OIC) Lieutenant General Vicente D. Danao Jr., the official said that the accused, formerly assigned with the Rizal Police Provincial Office (RPPO), even offered a P2 million bribe to the arresting officers in exchange for his liberty.
The PNP-IMEG team ignored the offer and instead handcuffed the suspect, who will be facing a separate case for violation of Article 212 of the Revised Penal Code, otherwise known as the corruption of public officials, said Brig. Gen. Nacion.
Acting on a tip from informants, Brig. Gen. Nacion said that the suspect was arrested in his house in Kaytikling, Bgy. Dolores in Taytay, Rizal, shortly before noon Wednesday on the strength of a warrant of arrest for homicide issued by Judge Wilhelmina Jorge-Wagan of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 111 in September 2021.
Police records showed that the suspect was demoted thrice and was eventually dismissed from the force in connection with the killing of then-teenager Billy Lozada.
The ex-cop was accused of shooting Lozada twice in the chest on August 7, 2008. He surrendered to the Pasay City police after the incident and was charged in court when the victim died.
A witness told Pasay Police investigators that he and some friends were eating at a roadside eatery around 11:00 p.m. when they heard gunshots and later saw the former police holding a gun while running after the victim.
The witness said the suspect fled on foot after Lozada fell to the ground due to his gunshot wounds.
Another complainant said that suspect also fired shots at her vehicle, damaging its right side mirror and window during the incident. The Pasay Police then said that the suspect would be facing frustrated murder in connection with the shooting incident, but the case may be upgraded to murder once the victim dies.
It was still unknown why the case was downgraded to homicide. In 2013, an alias warrant was issued against the suspect by the Pasay City court.
According to Nacion, they launched their intelligence packet codenamed ‘Oplan Mokong’ to arrest the accused, who remained scot-free since September last year after the family of Lozada sought their help.
The official said that they learned that over the past nine months, “the suspect continued to enjoy his freedom and indulged in the unlawful sale of nearly expired Boritos.”
Last June 3, he said that their Counter-Intelligence Division received information that the accused was sighted in Bgy. Dolores. Undercover officers dispatched to the area eventually confirmed the information following interviews with some neighbors of the suspect.
The official commended members of the PNP-IMEG Counter-Intelligence Division led by Lieutenant Colonel Leo M. Canuel and Major Christian C. Burgos for hauling the wanted ex-policeman to jail.
Lt. Gen. Danao likewise congratulated the PNP-IMEG for repeatedly proving that it will not hesitate to arrest their wanted colleagues, regardless of their rank and stature.
Since May 18, the PNP-IMEG under Brig. Gen. Nacion has already accounted for eight active and former police personnel wanted for various criminal offenses.
“As I have always emphasized, there is no room for misconduct and breach of discipline in the PNP, thus, we will ensure that cops with criminal cases are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law because criminals have no place in the police service,” said Lt. Gen. Danao.
The accused is now being held at the PNP-IMEG lock-up facility in Camp Crame pending his presentation to the Pasay City court, said Brig. Gen. Nacion.
