Did NBI ‘agent’ kill girlfriend?

The Western Police District claimed yesterday that it was the confidential agent of the National Bureau of Investigation who shot dead his girlfriend and an officer of the WPD Mobile Patrol Unit Saturday morning in Malate, Manila.

WPD chief Nicolas Pasinos told reporters that initial investigation showed that the bullets that killed Ailyn Iguban, 39, a Customs broker and Police Officer 2 Allan Herrera, came from the caliber .40 pistol of Customs examiner and NBI confidential agent Cosain Bacaraman, 39.

It will be recalled that Herrera was with Inspector Jay Baybayan, also the WPD-Mobile Patrol Unit when they flagged down Bacaraman’s green Honda CRV at the corner of Canonigo and Quirino Avenue at about 12:15 a.m. for allegedly having no license plates.

Police investigators said that when the two officers approached the van, it sped-off prompting the policemen to chase it aboard their prowl car. The two officers then caught up with the van upon reaching Zamora street. It was while the officers were trying to get Bacaraman’s driver’s license that they were allegedly fired at by Bacaraman.

Investigators later discovered Iguban’s body at the van’s front seat with two gunshot wounds in the left chest.

Police said the Iguban’s bullet wounds bore signs of "tattooing" showing that the bullet were fired from close range. Investigators added that they also found a knife near Iguban’s seat suggesting that she had tried to defend herself against Bacaraman.

"We have confirmed that there were three guns present in the incident, a caliber .45 pistol issued to Baybayan, a caliber .40 pistol, and a 9 mm pistol issued to Herrera. We have also established that the bullets that killed the woman (Iguban) and Herrera were both from a caliber .40 pistol," Pasinos said.

But investigators are still trying to trace Bacaraman’s caliber .40 after it mysteriously disappeared from the scene of the crime.

"It now appears that the woman was already dead when he was approached by the two policemen. And there was also a scuffle between Bacaraman and the woman inside the van. As such, there was a bullet hole found in the roof of the van. Bacaraman also removed the license plates of his van as he was trying to dispose of the woman’s body," Pasinos said.

Meanwhile, the NBI admitted that Bacaraman was indeed their confidential agent since Sept. 4 last year. Bacaraman served as an Operations Officer 3 at the Bureau of Customs prior to his death.