MULTIPLE charges are being readied by the police against the five armed men, including village chief Federico Gayagas Jr. of Bacong Montilla, Bago City, who were involved in a shootout with operatives in Bacolod City on Tuesday.
Chief Inspector Jovil Sedel, head of Police Station 6, led the encounter with the group at Rosario Heights Subdivision in Barangay Taculing that led to the death of Gayagas’s cousin, Rodolfo Gayagas Jr., 46, a councilman also of Barangay Bacong-Montilla.
Charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and for violation of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act may be filed against the five suspects, who were armed with two shotguns, a .45 caliber pistol, and a fragmentation grenade, and possessed four sachets of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
Also arrested were Renante Firmias, 38, of Barangay Felisa, Bacolod City; Samson Gonzaga, 41, of Barangay Ilijan, Bago City; Johnny Abong, 47, of Barangay Ma-ao, Bago City; and Jaime “Morito” Benares, 66, of Barangay Alijis, Bacolod City, who has been placed under surveillance for the past two months.
Benares was the subject of an arrest warrant for two drug cases supposed to be served by personnel of Police Station 6.
Benares is the cousin of William Chua, a top drug personality of Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region, who was arrested together with his son Wesley Chua, and 11 others in a suspected drug den at Benares compound in Barangay Alijis last June that led to the recovery of P900,000 worth of illegal drugs.
On Tuesday, a shootout transpired when the suspects fired at the police. Injured were Gonzaga, Abong, and Gayagas, 44.
Gayagas was also arrested for possession of high-powered firearms in Barangay Bacong-Montilla last April.
Sedel said they are consolidating all the papers for the filing of the case against the five suspects.
Gonzaga, Benares, and Firmias are detained at the station while Gayagas and Abong are still confined at the hospital after they sustained fractures.
The recovered firearms were subjected to ballistic examination.
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Renato Gumban, acting regional director of Police Regional Office (PRO)-18, said the neutralization of high-value targets (HVTs) by Police Station 6 is a commendable accomplishment not only for the Bacolod City Police Office, but also for the entire PRO-18.
“Our police personnel deserve to be recognized for their bravery in engaging in a shootout and in the neutralization of HVTs,” Gumban added.
