Police officer shot dead on Edsa was on narcolist

MANILA, Philippines — The senior police officer who was gunned down on Tuesday at the corner of Edsa and Connecticut Street in San Juan City had been on President Duterte’s so-called narcolist, the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said on Wednesday.

But Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said that a previous validation process yielded no additional evidence against the slain officer, Senior Master Sgt. Solomon Cugay, prompting the NCRPO to recommend in September last year his removal from the narcolist.

“The alleged drug links [of Cugay] were never monitored or proven,” Eleazar said. “So we recommended … adjudication, which would lead to his name being taken off [the list].”

In broad daylight

Cugay, 40, was aboard his motorcycle when he was shot several times by unidentified suspects at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday — the second shooting to occur in broad daylight this year along Edsa after businessman Jose Yulo and his driver were both killed in February.

Police investigators recovered seven empty shell casings from a .45-caliber pistol and three deformed slugs at the scene of the crime.

According to a copy of the slain policeman’s service record, Cugay was last assigned at the NCRPO Regional Learning and Doctrine Development Division.

It was in Cugay’s previous assignment at the NCRPO Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs unit, from December 2014 to May 2015, that police investigators were looking for a possible motive behind his killing, said Brig. Gen. Christopher Tambungan, Eastern Police District director.