Bulacan chief of police slain in encounter with robbery suspects

PROBE. Responding San Ildefonso and Bulacan forensic police team investigate the crime scene in Barangay Bohol na Mangga, San Ildefonso town where Lt. Col. Marlon Serna, chief of San Miguel police, was killed in a gunfight. Photos by Bulacan police

CAMP GEN. ALEJO SANTOS, Bulacan — A Bulacan police chief was killed after an exchange of fire with robbery suspects in San Ildefonso town on Saturday (March 25), reports said Sunday (March 26).

Bulacan police director Col. Relly Arnedo said Lt. Col. Marlon Serna, chief of San Miguel police, died of gunshot wounds on his head while being treated in a hospital around 10:30 p.m.

Reports said that at about 9:30 p.m., Ernesto Dela Cruz, 48, and his wife Irene, 47, were in their store in Barangay (village) San Juan in San Miguel town when two armed men suddenly declared a robbery hold-up. The report did not specify the kind of store the Dela Cruz couple owned.

The couple resisted, the report said. The wife hit one of the suspects with a bolo but the other managed to fight back and fired a shot at her.

Irene was hit on the left side of her body and was also later taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Serna was aboard his car with a 17-year-old companion when he responded, at about 10 p.m., to the robbery incident.

He chased the two unidentified armed suspects riding a Mio motorcycle in Barangay Bohol na Mangga, in adjacent San Ildefonso town when an exchange of fire ensued between them.

Serna’s teen companion was wounded but was already declared out of danger. Major Norweda Usman, Bulacan police information officer, has yet to determine the relation of the 17-year-old to the victim and why he was with him during the response operation.

San Ildefonso police led by Col. Russel Denis Reburiano responded to the armed confrontation between Serna and the suspects at around 10:30 p.m. However, the suspects managed to flee towards Barangay Akle, also in San Ildefonso.

Central Luzon police director Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr. ordered Arnedo to leave no stone unturned in solving the killing of Serna.

The Central Luzon police, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Chief of Philippine National Police Gen. Edgardo Azurin, and Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando jointly offered P1.2 million for any informant who could help lead the police in solving the killing of Serna.

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