3 ‘gun-for-hire’ Ilocos cops sacked

By Mar T. Supnad

CAMP GEN. FLORENDO, La Union- The top police official in the region said Monday three Ilocos policemen were sacked after they were suspected of being members of a Private Armed Group (PAG) who carried out “assassinations for a fee.”

Chief Supt. Constante D. Azares, Jr., Region 1 police director, said he immediately caused the relief of the three active members of the Region 1 police after he received reports they were being utilized by politicians to terrorize and assassinate their personal and political opponents.

Gen. Azares did not identify the three policemen saying there are still gathering evidences against them.

He said the three had been brought and restricted at the PNP Regional headquarters here.

But Senior Supt. Eduardo Dopale, officer in charge of the Ilocos Sur police, confirmed that the three policemen are under his command, saying they were detailed in the PNP stations of Caoayan town, Burgos and San Emilio.

A source privy to the operations of the three suspects said that the practice has long been happening in the province.

He lauded Azares for his will in ridding Ilocos Sur police of suspected “killers.”

“A fee ranging from P20,000 to P30,000 per head is usually the average price for every target they are going to kill. If the price is right, even those who have lesser sin will not be spared and be killed without further investigation by these PAG members,” said the source.

He added most of the “policemen who are PAG members” were formerly detailed with the Special operations Group.

Among the latest violence that rocked the province were the shooting of a radio broadcaster Eugene Paet who was shot and wounded seriously in front of the PNP headquarters of Ilocos Sur, a municipal candidate for councilor in Sta. Maria town identified as Artemio Tugade; a newly-retired policeman identified as SPO4 Dionisio Aquino of Bulala, Vigan City; a clerk of court of Vigan; a businessman in Sinait town and others.

The killings are all unsolved as of this writing, putting the designation of Dopale as provincial director into uncertainty.

A number of policemen said the directorship of Dopale is at risk due to the unabated and unsolved killings in the province since he assumed his post.