PNP probes killing of Sulu police director
WHAT really drove this cop to shoot his superior to death before he was gunned down by security officers of the latter in Jolo, Sulu on Friday afternoon?
This is what Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar wants to find out in the aftermath of the killing of Sulu Police Provincial Office (PPO) director Colonel Michael C. Bawayan Jr., a 49-year-old member of PNP Academy Class 1996, as he was inspecting a Quarantine Control Point (QCP) in Bgy. Asturias in the Walled City of Jolo around 4:20 p.m. Friday.
The police official’s assailant identified as Staff Sergeant Imran Jilah, 43, a member of the 3rd Maneuver Platoon of the Sulu PPO’s 2nd Provincial Mobile Force Company, was killed in an ensuing gunbattle with security men of Bawayan.
According to Eleazar, he has instructed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region Police Regional Office director Brigadier Gen. Eden T. Ugale to form a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) at the regional level that will coordinate all their investigative efforts regarding the bloody incident.
The SITG is composed of officers from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Regional Crime Laboratory and the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division.
An initial investigation showed that Bawayan, a native of Mountain Province residing in Baguio City, was inspecting the QCP in Bgy. Asturias when he was shot by Jilah, a resident of Kasalamatan Village in Bgy. San Raymundo, also in Jolo.
The police official was rushed to the Integrated Provincial Health Office where he was pronounced dead upon arrival by an attending physician.
The suspect died on the spot during the firefight with security men of Bayawan.
“We do not want to make hasty conclusions at this point. We’d rather await the result of the investigation,” Eleazar said.
“I am not inclined to give a deadline for the SITG to finish its investigation, to avoid undue pressure that may lead to haphazard results,” he added.
There were unconfirmed reports that Bayawan accosted the suspect after he saw him with an improper haircut and tried to cut the policeman’s hair on the spot. This reportedly angered the cop who suddenly shot the Sulu police director before he was shot dead by the latter’s bodyguards.
Bayawan was described as a bemedaled member of PNPA Class 1996 who was designated as Sulu police director in March last year.
