Cebu City Police director, Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador eyes at commending two Guadalupe Police officers and a field training officer with the “Medalya ng Kagalingan” for responding promptly to an incident along M. Velez Street in sitio Banawa the other day.
Last Tuesday afternoon, police inspector Rex Campos and PO1 Alowin Suquib shot 39-year-old Joel Sedentario who was reportedly armed with a homemade .38 caliber revolver.
Sedentario allegedly threatened lawyer Rico Tautho after the latter reportedly called him a thief.
According to the investigation, Sedentario promised Tautho he would repair his CD component three months ago but reportedly failed to do so. He wasn’t also able to return to Tautho the said appliance.
When Tautho asked the suspect where the CD component was, the suspect reportedly said it still is in his house. However, when Tautho insisted on coming home with the suspect so he could get the component back, the suspect refused. It was at this point that Tautho accused him of theft.
Tautho also asked the suspect to accompany him to the police station to settle the matter, but the suspect reportedly brandished a gun then pointed it at him.
For fear of his life, Tautho ran away and then sought the help of PO1 Neil Manonsong who immediately called for backup. Campos, who was patrolling the area with field training officer Suquib, responded to the call.
Campos tried to convince the suspect to surrender but Sedentario allegedly shot the policemen twice. Suquib returned fire and hit the suspect in the right side of his body.
“It only shows that he learned something from his training,” Comendador said of Suquib who just received his service firearm.
After reviewing the facts and circumstances of the incident, Comendador said that Suquib and the other policemen deserve commendation for their courage.
“Siguro pwede kanang Medalya ng Kagalingan. This will encourage others especially the FTPs to perform their jobs properly,” Comendador said.
Comendador also said that the police are now preparing the appropriate charges to be filed against the suspect. These are illegal possession of firearm and direct assault for firing at the cops. — Garry B. Lao/MEEV