Man wanted for drugs arrested after shootout

CEBU, Philippines - A man who pretended to be an ambush victim was arrested by the same policemen who brought him to the hospital after they learned that he was actually a wanted person.

Sibonga Police Station personnel brought Joselito Lavilla to the hospital on Sunday night after seeing his gunshot wounds in the leg.

Lavilla claimed that unidentified persons barged into his house and shot him several times.

This allegation was even recorded in the police blotter.

In a press briefing though, Superintendent George Ylanan, chief of the Regional Special Operations Group-7, said Lavilla misled the Sibonga police.

He revealed that the suspect and four companions shot it out with the operatives of RSOG-7 and of the Provincial Public Safety Company in Barangay Papan, Sibonga at around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.

According to Ylanan, the police officers served a warrant of arrest for illegal drugs sale against Lavilla at his house.

However, the suspect reportedly resisted and along with his four companions, opened fire at the police then ran away.

Ylanan said they were sure that one of the suspects was wounded since there were drops of blood inside the house leading to a grassy area. The police scoured the area but did not find the suspects.

After receiving a report about a shooting alarm, Sibonga policemen responded and along the way, intercepted a multicab with a wounded passenger inside who turned out to be Lavilla.

The suspect then made the policemen believe that he was an ambush victim. He was then brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

After recording Lavilla’s account in the blotter, Sibonga police later learned that the suspect actually had a standing warrant of arrest.

They then served it immediately at the suspect’s hospital bed.

Ylanan said they suspected that one Noel Quirante, formerly a policeman who is also a wanted man, was among those who shot it out with them since the latter and Lavilla are close friends.

Charges will be filed against Lavilla and his companions for engaging in a shootout with the police, Ylanan added. — (FREEMAN)