Suspects Prudencio Melendres, 37, and Dionisio Sumaylo, 25, both of Speedwatch Security Agency, and of 283 Gozon Compound, Letre Road, Malabon City, were charged Friday in the office of City Prosecutor Jorge Catalan Jr., for allegedly shooting dead one SPO4 Marcelino Falcon.
Superintendent Gene Ines Abrajano, CIDG-NFO chief, said that Falcon, 48, assigned at F-2, Civil Security Group (CSG) in Camp Crame, was on a routine inspection of security guards at about 12:30 p.m., when he was gunned down at Gozon Compound.
Falcon succumbed to a single bullet wound in the right armpit at about 4:45 p.m. of the same date, while undergoing treatment at the Manila Central University (MCU) Hospital in Caloocan City.
Investigation revealed that Falcon engaged in a heated argument with Melendres and Sumaylo, two guards detailed at JMC Fishing Co., at Gozon Compound, Letre Road, Malabon City, when suddenly a gunshot rang out and the policeman was hit in the body.
"Several people witnessed the incident but nobody would speak of what really transpired," Abrajano said.
Wilfredo Gan of the Civilian Volunteers Against Crime (CVAC), who helped bring the wounded police officer to the hospital, said that before Falcon lost consciousness where he allegedly told him that he was shot by a security guard he was talking to.
Melendres and Sumaylo, interviewed in their cell, denied shooting Falcon but said they engaged in a heated altercation with the policeman, who was in civilian clothes, for allegedly entering the JMC office without their permission.
Melendres said he pacified Sumaylo and Falcon and convinced the policeman to go outside where Falcon again allegedly engaged in another squabble with another man.
The unidentified man, Melendres said, shot Falcon at the height of their argument and escaped with his gun.
Abrajano said that paraffin tests conducted on the suspects showed Melendres was positive for gunpowder burns. He added that Melendres’ security guard license was bogus.
Abrajano added that one of Falcon’s jobs is to inspect security guards of certain offices or companies to make sure they are legitimate and are employed by duly licensed security agencies. — Pete Laude