FILE PHOTO: Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. on Monday said they are looking into the alleged involvement of police officers in the fatal ambush of Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda and his five aides in Nueva Vizcaya over the weekend.
Investigators are checking the claim after witnesses said they saw masked gunmen in police clothes and a white Mitsubishi Adventure with a red license plate, indicating that the government owns the vehicle, during the attack on Alameda and his aides.
“Naka uniform sila ng pulis kaya tinitingnan natin kung may possibility ba na pulis ang involved or ginamit lang ang uniform ng pulis,” Azurin told reporters on the sidelines of the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the PNP and the Quezon City government on the Kasimbayanan (Kapulisan, Simbahan at Pamayanan) program.
(We’re checking if they’re police officers or just wearing police uniforms.)
But earlier, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo already ruled out the possibility of a PNP member being involved in the brazen killing of Appari Vice Mayor Alameda and his five aides.
READ: No PNP members involved in Cagayan vice mayor ambush, police force clarifies
Azurin nevertheless disclosed that a follow-up investigation of the ambush slay is still underway,
He also noted that police have since contacted the Nueva Vizcaya State University after they traced the plate number used by the assailants to a vehicle that is currently “impounded and beyond economic repair” in the school.
Alameda, serving his third term as Aparri vice mayor, and five of his companions were killed on Sunday, February 19, in Bagabag town in Nueva Vizcaya province by still unidentified gunmen.
READ: Aparri vice mayor, 5 others killed in Nueva Vizcaya ambush
“We condole with the Alameda family. We will make sure that tuloy-tuloy ang paghahanap sa perpetrators (We will make sure that the search for the perpetrators of the crime is continuous),” said Azurin, calling Alameda’s death as “very unfortunate” since the local official was scheduled to fly to Metro Manila for the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines elections.
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