Award-winning cop's body found

MANILA, Philippines - A policeman awarded the Philippines’ top combat medal for fighting off an Islamic militant attack has been found shot dead at a landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal, police said yesterday.

The badly decomposed body of Police Officer 2 Jamaron Sandag was found with “a hole in the skull, apparently the result of a gunshot,” said Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome.

Sandag, who was identified through his dental records, had been missing since gunmen abducted him from the Taguig Plaza Apartelle on Feb. 25.

Sandag was awarded the Philippine National Police (PNP) Medal of Valor in 2007 for fighting it out with at least 100 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf bandits who attacked the municipal hall and the police station of Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte in 2003.

He was later transferred to a police unit guarding airports.

Bartolome said Sandag’s abduction is apparently linked to Muslim clan wars.

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said they have formed Special Task Group Sandag to investigate why Sandag was killed and to catch his killers.

The task group is headed by Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region.

“This is a very sad chapter of the PNP because we lost a Medal of Valor awardee. We consider him a hero for bringing honor and glory to the organization,” Bartolome said. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Rhodina Villanueva