It will be his first time as a policeman to set foot in Camp Crame.
PO3 Elrich Jourdin Catacutan, 31, an operative of the Mobile Patrol Group, will visit the police national headquarters in Quezon City on Aug. 6 to receive his award as the country’s junior police non-commissioned officer of the year.
Catacutan, a licensed criminologist who joined the police force in 2007, will receive the same award won last year by Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, chief of the City Intelligence Branch.
Catacutan, whose father and younger brother are also policemen in Cebu City, said the award brings pride not only to his family but the entire Cebu City police force.
Catacutan was recognized for his role in foiling the robbery of an armored van at Robinsons Place in Cebu City in September last year.
Catacutan and fellow policemen PO1 Roy Ceniza and PO1 Ernesto Silva were driving by the mall on their way to the Capitol when they heard shots fired. A robbery was in progress. The policemen engaged robbers in a shootout. About P1.2 million intercepted from the delivery of an armored van of China Bank was recovered.
Catacutan was shot in the chest.Ceniza was wounded in the knee. It was Catacutan who shot and wounded Junjun Cabando, the alleged leader of the robbery group. Three cohorts were killed in the shootout.
Cabandowas arrested last month and is detained at the Cebu City Jail.
Cebu City Police Chief Melvin Ramon Buenafe said the award is a source of honor not only for Catacutan but also for Ceniza and Silva.