BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The commander of the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (303IBde) based in Negros Occidental reminded all Army personnel in the province to avoid drinking in public places.
This came after an Army Scout Ranger was shot dead during a bar brawl in Bacolod City’s Barangay Singcang-Airport earlier this week.
Brigadier General Inocencio Pasaporte, 303IBde commander, said Army personnel should follow guidelines.
Pasaporte advised troops to drink only in more private locations.
The death of Private First Class Edmark Iwayan was unfortunate, he lamented.
Meanwhile, three of the gunman’s colleagues who were also involved in the brawl surrendered on Thursday morning, Nov. 17.
Police Major Joery Puerto, commander of the Police Station 8 in Bacolod City, said the suspect, Ulyssis Carampatana, was accompanied by seven other individuals, and there are currently two remaining individuals still being convinced to surrender.
Puerto requested not to identify the three individuals, although their initial statements corroborated an earlier claim released by another victim, Joseph John Magahum, who is still recovering in a hospital after getting shot on the leg.
The three denied they have the .9mm pistol allegedly used in the shooting.
Puerto said the three would become witnesses to the murder case that had already been filed against Carampatana, while he warned the two other individuals that they would be branded as accomplices to the crime if they refused to surrender.
Carampatana, meanwhile, had reportedly refused to undergo a paraffin test./PN
