Cop killed, 3 arrested in Zamboanga del Sur gunfight

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A policeman was killed while another was hurt in a brief clash with gunmen in Sominot, Zamboanga del Sur on Tuesday morning.

Three of the suspects who figured in the gunfight with the team of intelligence agents from the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Police Office that resulted in the death of Staff Sgt. Khalid Jade Dacula got arrested the same day in a subsequent pursuit operation.

In a statement released late Tuesday, the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Police Office said Dacula died on the spot from gunshot wounds.

Dacula’s companion, Staff Sgt. Ronal Banagbanag, who was hurt in the incident, was rushed to a hospital for treatment.

The duo belong to the ZSPPO’s Provincial Intelligence Unit.

They were in an eight-member intelligence group, led by Police Master Sgt. Abraham Apat, Jr., out to validate reports by villagers on sightings of men on motorcycles with pistols in Barangays Carmen and New Oroquieta in Simonot town.

A brief shootout reportedly erupted when Apat and his companions tried to frisk the suspects for inspection.

Three of the men who traded shots with the police team, Tito Sereno Mabanto and his two siblings, Dionisio and Leonnie, were cornered by pursuing policemen three hours later.

The police team that chased the three suspects recovered from them the Glock 9 millimeter pistol of Dacula and an M16 assault rifle.

They are now detained in a facility of the Simonot Municipal Police Station.