Batangas town police chief sacked over cops' shootout

MANILA, Philippines - Calabarzon police director Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. yesterday ordered the immediate relief of the police chief of San Juan, Batangas following the shootout involving six policemen which left one of them dead.

Ordered administratively relieved from his post was Superintendent Jonathan Tangonon, police chief of San Juan town.

Pagdilao assigned Superintendent Isagani Fetizanan as officer-in-charge of the San Juan police and ordered him to give priority to the campaign against criminal elements, especially those riding in tandem on motorcycles.

Tangonon’s relief came a day after Pagdilao also relieved Superintendent Ramon Ramirez, police chief of San Pedro, Laguna, following the killing of two persons during a P400,000 robbery last Friday.

Pagdilao said San Juan policeman SPO1 Alejandro Samarita, 47, was killed after he traded shots with a fellow law enforcer, SPO2 Ruel Dimaano, 43, last Friday afternoon.

In his report to Pagdilao, Senior Superintendent Alberto Supapo, Batangas police director, said that prior to the shootout, SPO2 Petronilo Calderon, duty investigator at the San Juan police station, received a call from SPO2 Alberto Samarita, chief of the Police Assistance Center in Barangay Laiya.

Samarita requested for police assistance in a land dispute between the tenants and employees of a certain Butch Campos.

Supapo said Tangonan dispatched a six-man police team headed by Dimaano to the area.

Upon arrival in Barangay Laiya, the responding policemen reported that Samarita and another policeman identified as SPO1 Manuel Sevilla had arrested a certain Ronnie Valdez for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Supapo said Valdez sought help from Samarita, his godfather, for the apprehending policemen to free him, a favor that Dimaano turned down.

The disfavor resulted in a verbal tussle that led to the shootout between Samarita and Dimaano, who both sustained multiple gunshot wounds.

Samarita was rushed to the Doque General Hospital in San Juan town but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Dimaano was brought to the San Juan District Hospital and was later transferred to the N.L. Villa Hospital in Lipa City.

Aside from relieving Tangonon from his post, Pagdilao also directed Supapo to disarm and place under restrictive custody other police officers involved in the incident.

Pagdilao also wanted the policemen to undergo paraffin tests and their issued firearms subjected to ballistic examination, including Samarita’s.

Those placed under restrictive custody were SPO1 Eddie Sabile Bautista, 50; PO2 Rolando Battan Rallos, 34; PO2 Edwin Mendoza Morete, 34; PO1 James Agustin Fajutag, 33; and PO1 Robert Macatangay Balita, 31.

Pagdilao directed Supapo to bring the investigation into the shootout to the Provincial Investigation and Detection Branch of the Batangas police and to replace the relieved policemen with men of the Batangas Public Safety and Security Company.

Earlier, Ramirez, police chief of San Pedro, Laguna, was replaced by Superintendent Kirby Kraft, concurrent commander of the Laguna Public Safety and Security Company.

Ramirez’s relief was in accordance with the Philippine National Police’s one-strike policy on crimes involving motorcycle-riding elements.

Last Friday, three armed men on board a motorcycle killed Noel Natividad, 40, secretary of the La Felonia Scrap dealer, and Reginald Tanyag, 8, son of the shop owner, during a P400,000 robbery in Barangay San Antonio, San Pedro.

The victims were on board a black Honda Civic when the gunmen opened fire at them. – With Ed Amoroso