ILOILO City – Policemen shot to death a robbery suspect in Barangay Tabugon, Dingle, Iloilo yesterday.
It was a shootout, according to Police Captain Fernando Punzalan, Dingle police chief; the man resisted arrest.
Policemen were in Barangay Tabugon to respond to a report that a woman was robbed there, said Punzalan.
The man had two other companions who managed to flee, he added.
He identified them as Rowen Lebuna and Jefftrey Vicente.
As this was being written, the slain suspect remained unidentified. He was wearing a black shirt and a pair of shorts.
No identification documents were found in his possession but cops recovered a 12-gauge shotgun, a brown wallet and black wristwatch.
The man and the two others were also linked to three more robbery incidents yesterday prior to the one in Barangay Tabugon – in Passi City, in San Enrique town and in Barangay Camambugan, Dingle.
In the Barangay Tabugon robbery, victim Lina Mugas, 59, of Barangay Caguyuman, Dingle, sought the police’s help after she was robbed.
Punzalan immediately ordered the sealing of exit points in Barangay Tabugon.
“The robbers shot our policemen so my men fired back. One of the robbers was hit on the head while the two others ran away quickly,” said Punzalan.
In the Barangay Camambugan, Dingle robbery case that happened along the highway at around 5 a.m., the victim was Gilda dela Cruz, 51, of Barangay Poblacion, Dingle. She sought police assistance as soon as the robbers had left, said Punzalan.
At the Dingle police station, Punzalan said, Mugas and dela Cruz positively identified Lebuna and Vicente as companions of the slain robbery suspect from photographs that the police showed to them.
According to Punzalan, prior to the two robbery incidents in Dingle yesterday, the suspects robbed men in Passi City and in San Enrique.
“They belonged to an organized robbery group with at least six members and operating province-wide,” said Punzalan.
The Dingle police initially identified the shootout casualty as Joan Lego of Barangay Bagongbong, Lambunao, Iloilo but Lego’s mother Wendelyn belied this.
Joan disappeared from Iloilo years ago, said the mother, and had not contacted the family./PN
