NPD joins search for ex-cop tagged in 2 cops' slay

MANILA, Philippines - The Northern Police District (NPD) formed yesterday its own tracker team to help the Caloocan City police hunt down the killers of its two officers Tuesday.

Superintendent Ferdinand del Rosario, NPD investigation division chief, said dismissed Quezon City policeman Ernesto “Caste” Castillo, 52, and three other alleged killers of SPO3 Tom Perez, 40, and SPO1 Tirso Roncales Jr., 43, are still in nearby provinces.

“But our tracker teams could be in a disadvantageous position, for the suspects can monitor their movements from the radios the gunmen divested from the two slain police officers,” Del Rosario told The STAR.

Del Rosario said NPD director Chief Superintendent Antonio Decano coordinated yesterday with the Directorate for Communications and Electronics in Camp Crame to ask the office to disable the stolen radios.

Del Rosario said the killing of Perez and Roncales could be a “setup” by Castillo and his gang to get the police officers’ equipment. 

Perez and Roncales were on patrol along Baluarte street in Bagong Silang at around noon Tuesday when they saw at least two men having lunch at an eatery with guns tucked into their waistbands.

They approached the armed men, who fled on a motorcycle toward a narrow alley, where two others were waiting. The killers took the two policemen’s M16 rifles, 9mm pistols and radios.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, Caloocan City police investigation chief, said they are approaching the gang with caution because they are now “well-equipped and dangerous.”