A hero’s burial for brave Manila cop

One of two Manila policemen who were killed while responding to a robbery incident in Sta. Cruz last week was accorded a hero’s burial yesterday at the Manila North Cemetery, aside from receiving posthumous promotion and a medal of valor.

Senior Police Officer 2 Ricardo Roxas and PO2 Romeo Napolis were slain during a shootout with heavily armed men who robbed two employees of a money changer shop,

Roxas remains were brought to the Western Police District (WPD) headquarters along United Nations Avenue for an overnight vigil, while that of Napolis’ were brought to his hometown in Cavite upon the insistence of his relatives.

A Necrological Mass, proceeded by a Eulogy and the awarding of cash benefits and posthumous promotion for the slain cop, was held yesterday at the WPD lobby. National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Ricardo de Leon pinned the "Medalya ng Kagitingan" on Roxas. A 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps were conducted before Roxas was laid to rest at the Manila North Cemetery.

WPD director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong said the same honors and awards will also be conferred on Napolis.

As this developed, police are now looking into the possible involvement of scalawags in the military in the Sta. Cruz robbery after verification made on the recovered high-powered firearms showed that they were issued to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Superintendent Co Yee Co, chief of the Western Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (WPD-CIDU), said verification made with the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO) on the serial numbers of the two recovered M-16 rifles showed that the firearms were issued to the Philippine Army. "We are now determining the specific soldiers to whom these high-powered firearms were issued. Then we have to determine if these became loose firearms," Co said.

Roxas and Napolis were killed during a shootout with at least four heavily armed suspects who held up two employees of the Edzen Money Changer Shop after withdrawing a large amount of money.

The suspects, one of which was reported to be wounded, abandoned their maroon Mitsubishi Adventure van and commandeered another vehicle. Recovered inside the suspects’ van were two M-16 rifles and several loaded magazines.

The suspects, who reportedly spoke Cebuano dialect, failed to get a large duffle bag containing some P4.7 million cash from the employees, which the police later turned over to Edzen owner Zenaida Artuz. According to Co, one of the wounded employees was able to return some P2 million which he kept in his backpack.