Cops eye work-related motive: Jail exec survives ambush

CEBU, Philippines — A 53-year-old jail official was ambushed by motorcycle-riding assailants while on his way to work in Cebu City yesterday morning but he survived the attack.

The target, Jail Inspector Edwin Sarcon, sustained but a graze on the neck from one of the bullets.

Sarcon was driving his Isuzu MUX at nearly 7 a.m. when two assailants peppered his vehicle with bullets at the corner of R. Duterte Street and V. Rama Avenue in Barangay Guadalupe, just a few blocks from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) where he works.

SPO1 Winston Ybañez of the city police homicide section said Sarcon grabbed his firearm when he noticed bullets hitting his rear window. Sarcon reportedly tried to fire back but his gun malfunctioned, prompting him to run out of his vehicle.

“Iya nabantayan buto. Mubawos unta siya pero aksidente, ang magazine sa iyang armas nigawas mao wa siya kapabuto, mao naningkamot na lang siya makadagan,” Ybañez said.

Sarcon was able to call for backup when he was already inside the public market in Sitio Banawa.

Witnesses saw the assailants flee toward V. Rama Avenue.

Sarcon said one of his attackers is medium built and covered his head with a scarf. The driver of the motorcycle reportedly wore a face mask with a skull print and a half-faced helmet.

Ybañez said it is possible that there were three assailants based on the placement of bullets holes in Sarcon’s vehicle – on the rear window and the windows on the driver’s and passenger’s side.

Cops recovered four empty shells and a live bullet of a caliber .45 revolver and three empty shells of a .9mm revolver.

Cebu City Police Office Director, Senior Supt. Joel Doria, said it is possible that the attack was work related.

Sarcon was assigned previously at the Talisay City Jail as deputy warden before he was reassigned to Cebu City. The jail in Talisay was strafed three times when he was there.

“Considering na yung background ay previously na naging assigned sa Talisay, alam naman natin na may incident dun ng strafing,” Doria said.

A security guard who was driving his motorcycle beside Sarcon’s car got hit by a bullet on his left leg and is being treated at the Cebu City Medical Center.

Action

Yesterday, Councilor David Tumulak, deputy mayor for police matters, asked Doria to deploy cops in major thoroughfares.

“With the recent ambush incidences, necessary pud kaayo nga magbutang ta og PNP para naa’y assurance ang public nga there are law enforcers along the road,” Tumulak said.

Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 Director, Chief Supt. Robert Quenery, also said police visibility should be doubled.

“Crimes are committed when there is opportunity, motivation, and the tools to perpetrate it. What our policemen can do is reduce the opportunity in its commission by crime prevention programs. We just need to put more policemen on the streets and get the support and cooperation of our stakeholders,” Quenery said.

The past few weeks saw cases of ambush in Cebu City, the most prominent of which is the killing of lawyer and Ronda Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab on February 19.

Ungab was killed shortly after leaving the Qimonda IT Center at the North Reclamation Area which houses the Cebu City Palace of Justice.

Police, however, are quick to say there is no connection to the killings.

At City Hall, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the police should be more active in looking into complaints from the public, no matter how small, as doing so would encourage the public to also help the police.

“My general direction to the police is to please react to all the complaints I get from the public because there is a connection when you react to even the small complaints…they start volunteering information like drugs, criminals and suspicious character,” Osmeña said. (FREEMAN)