• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A chief of barangay tanod (village watchmen) was gunned down by an unidentified assailant on Friday evening (May 3) at Purok Mabinuligon, Barangay Camindangan in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental.
Initial investigation of the Sipalay City Police Station indicated that the 37-year-old victim went out of his sari-sari store to respond to a supposed call for assistance when he was shot.
The victim, whose identity is being withheld by the police, was declared dead on arrival at the Merceditas Jr. Montilla District Hospital.
The alleged involvement of New People’s Army remnants in the fatal shooting incident is being validated by the police.
Meanwhile, more than P500,000 worth of illegal drugs were seized by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in separate buy-busts in the cities of Bacolod and Silay in Negros Occidental over the weekend.
In Bacolod, PDEA operatives on Sunday (May 5) arrested two suspects and recovered an estimated 59 grams of suspected shabu valued at P401,200 at Purok Lubi, Barangay 3.
The suspects included a 53-year-old woman and her nephew, a 23-year-old factory worker.
On Saturday, a suspected drug peddler was arrested by the police at Purok Kalye Onse in Barangay 2, Silay City.
The apprehension of the 48-year-old suspect, who is a resident of Barangay Guimbalaon, yielded nine sachets of suspected shabu with a market value of P102,000.
The arrested drug suspects are now locked up in jail, pending the filing of charges against them for violation of Republic Act 9165, also known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002. | GB
