MANILA, Philippines — Another officer of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) was killed — the fifth in just a year — by “riding in tandem” assassins on Wednesday morning, just a few blocks away from the gates of New Bilibid Prison Reservation in Muntinlupa City.
A report from BuCor spokesperson, Maj. Albert Tapiru, identified the victim as Corrections Officer 1 Porferio Bergula, 38, assigned at the medium security compound of the NBP.
According to a police report, Bergula was buying “tuyo” (dried fish) in Poblacion Market along Katihan Road—around 400 meters from the nearest NBP gate — at 10:30 a.m, when an unknown man shot him at his chest.
The gunman then rode a motorcycle driven by another suspect and escaped toward the direction of San Guillermo Street.
Bergula was brought to Medical Center Muntinlupa but was pronounced dead at 11:02 a.m.
Tapiru said it has yet to be established if Bergula’s murder was related to his work.
Barangay Poblacion
Bergula’s death came exactly three months after Ruperto Traya Jr. was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men on Aug. 27 on Amparo Street, also in Barangay Poblacion.
Traya was chief administrative officer 3 and assigned at the BuCor’s inmate’s document processing division.
The said BuCor office collates and processes all paperwork related to the recomputation of the credits of around 11,000 convicts’ good conduct time allowance under the controversial retroactive application of Republic Act No. 10592.
Traya’s murder is being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Commission on Human Rights.
Bergula was the fifth BuCor employee killed, all of them in Barangay Poblacion.
On Sept. 2 last year, Insp. Rommel Reyes was shot in the neck and body by a lone gunman along NBP Road inside the NBP Reservation.
On Oct. 1, Insp. Nimencio San Gabriel, who was on his motorcycle, was ambushed by motorcycle-riding gunmen at the corner of C. Arellano and Cagiao Streets in Katarungan Village.
On Dec. 3, Chief Insp. Angelito Padilla was ambushed and shot in the head by two gunmen on Katihan Road.
Padilla’s death prompted the DOJ to investigate the series of murders of BuCor officials.