Police Senior Master Sergeant Rommel Aguilar of the 3rd Maneuver Platoon, 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company of the Negros Occidental Police Office, was found dead following a shooting incident in Calatrava Dec. 7.
The Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region said that Aguilar was initially reported missing after troops of the 1st NOCPMFC encountered armed men while conducting a service of warrant operation in Brgy. Menchaca, Calatrava.
The armed group opened fire, resulting in a brief firefight, and the police were forced to disperse due to hostile fire and challenging terrain, the PRO-NIR said.
At around 12:30 p.m., the Calatrava MPS received a report from Barangay Captain Vicente Maquiller regarding a body discovered in Purok 5, Brgy. Laga-an, about 20 kilometers from the town proper and inaccessible to vehicles due to the bad weather condition.
Residents said the victim had been seeking help when six armed men arrived and shot him. Authorities later identified the body as that of Aguilar.
“The loss of PSMS Aguilar is a deep tragedy for the entire PRO-NIR family. We honor his courage and service to the people of Negros Occidental,” P/BGen. Arnold Thomas Ibay, PRO-NIR regional director, said in a statement.
The Calatrava MPS, together with supporting units from NOCPPO and the Philippine Army, is also conducting intensified investigation and pursuit operations on the shooting to death of a 58-year-old male outside his home in Sitio Tagda, a remote area about 15 kilometers from the Calatrava MPS, at around 7:50 a.m. yesterday.
The six unidentified armed men approached and shot the victim twice in the head, then fled toward the mountainous portion of the barangay, the police said, adding that per initial assessments, the armed men were likely the same individuals later encountered by the 1st NOCPMFC.
The motive behind the attacks is under investigation, and the PRO-NIR and partner AFP units assure the public that all necessary measures are being taken to secure the affected upland communities and bring all assailants to justice.
“Rest assured, we are mobilizing all available resources to ensure that the perpetrators are tracked down and brought to justice. Our communities in Calatrava deserve peace, safety, and the full protection of the law, and we will not relent until order is fully restored,” Ibay stressed. ||
