Finally, a resting place for slain hero cop
December 25, 2006 | 12:00am
The Manila city government finally found a resting place for slain Manila policeman Senior Police Officer 3 Jess Valera at the Manila South Cemetery. The burial lot and niche will be provided free of charge.
Valeras family was having difficulty finding a place him after being told that there was no more room at the Manila North Cemetery. Ironically, the city government and the Manila Police District plan to accord Valera a heros funeral.
A furious Mayor Lito Atienza immediately ordered the city health departments chief, Dr. Jose Baranda, to assist Valeras family after reading about their predicament in The STAR.
"I was also personally tasked by Mayor Atienza to investigate the refusal of some city hall personnel to accommodate the burial of the cop at the Manila North Cemetery," Baranda told The STAR over the phone. He oversees the maintenance and operation of Manilas four main cemeteries.
Atienzas order was a welcome relief to Valeras family and colleagues.
"I was informed by the family that they prefer to bury Valera at the South Cemetery due to its proximity to their home," said Chief Inspector Dominador Arevalo Jr., Valeras immediate superior.
Atienza has also offered a P100,000 reward for information leading to Valeras killers.
Manila Police District acting director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa has formed a task force of investigators, dubbed "Task Force Valera," to go after the killers.
One of the teams, headed by Arevalo, is now said to be close to apprehending one of the assailants. Abarzosa said Valera will be interred on Thursday with full honors.
Last Wednesday, Valera was patrolling the southbound lane of Taft Avenue when he heard successive gunshots at around 1 p.m.
He rushed to the scene and found that a gunman and an accomplice on board a motorcycle had ambushed money exchange dealer Leoncio Bernardo, who was then in the drivers seat of a Toyota Corolla.
Valera exchanged fire with the gunman, but four more gunmen riding in tandem on two motorcycles joined in the firefight. When it was over, a bloodied Valera was slumped on the pavement. He was rushed to the Philippine General Hospital but died along the way from a gunshot wound in the right side of the body.
Responding policemen failed to catch up with the suspects who sped away towards the direction of Ayala Bridge.
Sheilon Apo, 27, a seaman from Imus, Cavite, took a stray bullet in the chest while on board a passenger bus. He is currently recuperating at the Manila Doctors Hospital.
Valera was one of several plainclothes police officers deployed along Taft Avenue to go after muggers, snatchers and robbers to thwart an anticipated upsurge of crime during the holidays. Nestor Etolle
Valeras family was having difficulty finding a place him after being told that there was no more room at the Manila North Cemetery. Ironically, the city government and the Manila Police District plan to accord Valera a heros funeral.
A furious Mayor Lito Atienza immediately ordered the city health departments chief, Dr. Jose Baranda, to assist Valeras family after reading about their predicament in The STAR.
"I was also personally tasked by Mayor Atienza to investigate the refusal of some city hall personnel to accommodate the burial of the cop at the Manila North Cemetery," Baranda told The STAR over the phone. He oversees the maintenance and operation of Manilas four main cemeteries.
Atienzas order was a welcome relief to Valeras family and colleagues.
"I was informed by the family that they prefer to bury Valera at the South Cemetery due to its proximity to their home," said Chief Inspector Dominador Arevalo Jr., Valeras immediate superior.
Atienza has also offered a P100,000 reward for information leading to Valeras killers.
Manila Police District acting director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa has formed a task force of investigators, dubbed "Task Force Valera," to go after the killers.
One of the teams, headed by Arevalo, is now said to be close to apprehending one of the assailants. Abarzosa said Valera will be interred on Thursday with full honors.
Last Wednesday, Valera was patrolling the southbound lane of Taft Avenue when he heard successive gunshots at around 1 p.m.
He rushed to the scene and found that a gunman and an accomplice on board a motorcycle had ambushed money exchange dealer Leoncio Bernardo, who was then in the drivers seat of a Toyota Corolla.
Valera exchanged fire with the gunman, but four more gunmen riding in tandem on two motorcycles joined in the firefight. When it was over, a bloodied Valera was slumped on the pavement. He was rushed to the Philippine General Hospital but died along the way from a gunshot wound in the right side of the body.
Responding policemen failed to catch up with the suspects who sped away towards the direction of Ayala Bridge.
Sheilon Apo, 27, a seaman from Imus, Cavite, took a stray bullet in the chest while on board a passenger bus. He is currently recuperating at the Manila Doctors Hospital.
Valera was one of several plainclothes police officers deployed along Taft Avenue to go after muggers, snatchers and robbers to thwart an anticipated upsurge of crime during the holidays. Nestor Etolle
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