2 dead as check on SUV without license plate turns bloody in Cavite

SAN PEDRO CITY—A routine check of a sports utility vehicle with no license plate turned bloody in Cavite City on Friday (Nov. 6), leading to the killing of a policeman and an occupant of the SUV.

The fatalities were Chief Msgt Julius Arcalas, of the Cavite Highway Patrol Team (HPT ), and Methusael Cebrian, an occupant of the SUV, a green Nissan Terra, who turned out to be husband of a Philippine Navy officer.

The police fatality, Arcalas, was with an HPT unit conducting a routine check on the Manila-Cavite Road around 1 p.m.

Col. Marlon Santos, Cavite police chief, said in a phone interview that Arcalas and other members of the HPT stopped the Nissan Terra because it had no license plate.

When the HPT members drew near the SUV, Cebrian introduced himself as a Navy officer but presented no registration papers for the vehicle.

Cebrian, a businessman, turned out to be husband of a Navy officer with a rank of lieutenant senior grade assigned to Sangley Point in Cavite City.

Santos added that police also got information that Cebrian was in the Philippine Military Academy sometime in 2007 and 2008 “but was dismissed.”

Citing accounts of what happened, Santos said Cebrian appeared to be getting something from inside the SUV before alighting and surprising the police team by firing a 5.56 mm Bushmaster rifle, which has the same caliber as an Armalite.

Arcalas and the team’s lead officer, Capt. Eduardo Joy Guadamor, sought cover behind the SUV but Cebrian kept firing at the policemen’s direction, according to Santos. Cebrian, he said, “even had to change magazine.”

Cebrian was hit as police returned fire and died instantly, while the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Raymond Zuñiga, sped off.

Arcalas, the only member of the team that was hit, died while being taken to the Cavite Medical Center.

A civilian, identified as Eduardo Magbana, was wounded by a stray bullet.

Santos said Cebrian’s wife later arrived at the scene. He said investigation was still ongoing to find out if the rifle that he used had any permit.

TSB