In separate incidents: Cop, Ecstasy dealer slain

CEBU, Philippines — A policeman and a man with links to illegal drugs were killed in separate occasions in Talisay City and Mandaue City yesterday.

In Talisay, policeman Mikie Espina, was shot several times while resting on the second floor of his poultry dressing plant in Barangay Dumlog yesterday morning.

The gunmen allegedly used long firearms to shoot the victim. Espina who sustained gunshot wounds to different parts of his body was rushed to the South General Hospital but did not make it there alive.

Espina was assigned at the Talisay City Police Station but was transferred to Masbate in 2017. He returned to Cebu just recently and was supposed to rejoin the Talisay City police.

His older brother, Virgilio, does not believe that his brother was involved in the illegal drugs trade.

He said they managed the poultry dressing business by taking on loans.

“Agresibo lang gyud akong manghud sa iyang negosyo. Bisan pa og ukayon na ang iyang bank statement, daghan gyud na siya og mga utang (My brother was just aggressive when it came to his business. His bank statement would most likely show he has had many loans),” Virgilio said.

He added that his brother was reportedly on the list of cops to be killed by guns-for-hire from Ozamiz City whose presence in Cebu has been confirmed by the police.

Ecstasy

Meanwhile, a few hours later in Mandaue City, an alleged supplier of ecstasy whose name appeared in the police drug matrix was killed on the road midday.

The alleged supplier, Neil Benjamin Eugenio Yap, 34, was on board his blue Hyundai Aeon on his way to Cebu City when he was waylaid by a motorcycle-riding tandem at the corner of F. Sino and Rosal Streets.

He died on the spot.

Police Col. Julian Entoma said they will have to check why Entoma was out of jail when the case he was charged for was non-bailable. He was arrested in January 2018 for distribution and sale of ecstasy during the Sinulog week.

“We will be checking the details of the case since naa report na non-bailable ang possession of ecstasy,” Entoma said.

Yap’s name resurfaced in the drug matrix released by the Police Regional Office-7. He allegedly served as direct contact of Richard Ngo Go who is second in line to what the police refer to as the “lady boss,” the biggest ecstasy distributor in Cebu.

Yap also worked as a party organizer and owned a canteen at a mall.

In the drug matrix, Yap was pointed as distributor of club owner Kenneth Dong who was arrested in Manila for alleged involvement in trafficking of shabu worth P6.4 billion.

Yap and Go allegedly supplied ecstasy to four clubs in Mandaue City and Cebu City.

Denial

In a separate development, the Police Regional Office-7 has denied that three policemen and a coastguard employee in Central Visayas are involved in the drug dealings of inmate and drug lord Rustico Ygot whose name surfaced after the recovery of P190.4 million shabu last Sunday.

A report by the Philippine Star said Ygot is working with at least three policemen – with ranks of staff sergeant, corporal, and patrolman; and an intelligence officer of Coast Guard.

"Wa pa koy listahan ana, what we have is the network of Ygot based on the revelations nung mga nadakpan namo ug kadtong gidugtong nato nga mga report. Wa ko kabalo diin gikan nang tulo ka polis (We don’t have that list. What we have is Ygot’s network based on the revelations of those arrested and data from our reports. I don’t know where that came from)," Sinas said.

Sinas said Ygot continued with his illegal drugs business even after he was convicted of illegal drugs and was sent to detention at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa.

Jocelyn Encila, the woman arrested in Consolacion last Sunday for shabu worth P68 million, allegedly took orders from Ygot through phone calls.

The Bureau of Corrections had inspected Ygot’s detention cell and found proof he had access to the internet.

The inspection was made after Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon, cancelled the privileges of over 45,000 inmates nationwide amid the entry of contrabands. —  JMO (FREEMAN)