ILOILO City – Four men charged with murder eluded policemen out to serve their arrest warrants in Barangay Yulo Drive, Arevalo district.
They fired shots at the operatives of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Regional Intelligence Division (RID) then fled.
The four suspects were John Rey Tiezo, Ryan Tiezo, Arnulfo Aliparo, and Reagan Gepulango, all residents of Tigbauan, Iloilo and believed to be members of a gun-for-hire group that also dabbled in robbery.
At around 4 p.m. on Monday, policemen spotted the suspects at Villa Carolina Subdivision a few meters away from the house of Barangay Captain Visamin Cañal of Barangay Quezon, Arevalo.
The four men – No. 3 in the Tigbauan police station’s list of wanted persons – fired at the cops then fled on foot, leaving behind their vehicle – a mid-sized white sport utility vehicle (plate number AXA-1141).
The cops returned fire. No one got hit.
A grenade was recovered inside the vehicle.
Cañal, a first-termer barangay captain seeking reelection this May 14 election, believed the four men were on a stakeout and they were targeting him.
The men’s vehicle was among several others he saw either passing by or parking near his house on May 6 and 7, said Cañal. He found the presence of these vehicles odd.
“Perhaps they were casing me,” said Cañal.
Chief Inspector Raul Bolido of the CIDG said they received reports that the four suspects have a “mission” in Arevalo – to kill an unnamed barangay official.
According to the CIDG, the four suspects were accused of killing a man in Tigbauan, Iloilo on Sept. 15, 2013.
Following the shooting, the city police director, Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas, deployed additional policemen to Barangay Quezon.
He also ordered the Arevalo police station to conduct more checkpoints.
Cañal believed the threat on his life was real and this had something to do with the upcoming barangay election./PN
