Policeman wanted for Abra wake massacre surrenders

CAMP VILLAMOR, Bangued, Abra — A police officer linked to the massacre of four people, including an eight-year-old girl, during a wake in San Juan town here last Oct. 4, gave himself up the other day.

But PO1 Joselito Volante Tagudar denied any role in the carnage.

"Awan ti amok dita pammabasol da (I don’t know anything about their accusations)," he said.

Tagudar is detained at the stockade of the provincial police, where he was committed by Regional Trial Court Branch 2 Judge Corpuz Alzate.

The policeman and a certain Judito Molina are facing four counts of murder and nine counts of frustrated murder.

He surrendered to Alzate last Tuesday morning to clear his name. "Haan ko kayat nga ilemmen-gan ti pammabasol da (I don’t like to hide away from their accusations)," he said.

Tagudar and Molina were indicted in the massacre of Algie Pacursa, Eric Pacursa, Johnson Bersamin and eight-year old Rogie Montorio during a wake in Sitio Barbarsic in Barangay Baug, San Juan town, shortly before midnight of Oct. 4.

Several other people attending the wake sustained serious injuries from M-16 and shotgun bullets. Superintendent Arturo Quilop, Abra police director, said four of them still need surgeries to remove shotgun pellets from their arms.

Quilop said it was a good thing that Tagudar gave himself up voluntarily to clear his name, saying that accusations against the policeman have tarnished the image of the police.

A police intelligence agent detailed to track down Tagudar said it was a blessing that Tagudar surrendered because the victims and their families have questioned their credibility as policemen.

"Buti na lang at sumurender siya at mawawala na ang dudang kaya di namin siya mahuli eh dahil pulis siya (It was good thing he gave up because doubts that we could not arrest him because he is a policeman, would finally be erased)," he said.

Quilop said that after the massacre, San Juan residents refused to give information to the police.

"We inched little by little to gain their confidence to talk when we instituted a 12-man police team to secure the barangay," he said.

Two months after, Quilop began receiving information from witnesses and the victims themselves, prompting the police to file charges against Tagudar and Molina.

Warrants of arrest were subsequently issued for Tagudar and Molina last Jan. 20, and then alias warrants were handed out on Feb. 10.

Tagudar, who was believed to have hidden in Baguio City, claimed that he only learned about his arrest warrant a day after he gave himself up.

His claim contradicted earlier claims by police intelligence sources that he even sent text messages that he would not give up.

Quilop said police are hunting down Molina, who is believed to be hiding somewhere in the Cordilleras.

The massacre was earlier linked to political rivalry in San Juan town, although police still have to establish links between the suspects and local politicians.