Guns of 2 slain South Cotabato cops missing

GENERAL SANTOS CITY –– Authorities continue to face a blank wall on the killing on April 29 of two policemen in Polomolok town of South Cotabato.

Police said they already have a person of interest who could shed light on the incident.

A recent report on the incident, Lt. Col. Lino Capellan, spokesman of the Region 12 police office, said the firearms of the slain cops were missing.

These were a long firearm and two handguns, Capellan added.

The slain policemen, identified as Patrolman Bryan Costello and Corporal Witzel Russ Betantos, were on a routine patrol, riding in tandem on a motorcycle when waylaid at Purok 3-B, Barangay Koronadal Proper in Polomolok.

Costello and Betantos were each driving a motorcycle, and when ambushed, their back riders fought off some seven armed men who fired bullets at them.

Sources have said that Barangay Koronadal Proper, located on the outskirts of Polomolok, is known to be frequented by armed groups, including those with links to terrorists.