2 Tagum City security employees slain; mayor seeks deeper probe

TAGUM CITY, Philippines –The deaths of two city government employees barely two days apart came as a shock to officials here with Tagum Mayor Allan Rellon calling for a deeper investigation and swift solution.

Alan Jayson, 43, and Randy Pandacan, 42, both employees of the city’s Security Management Office were shot dead despite a nationwide gun ban for the upcoming barangay (village) elections, Rellon said.

According to Senior Superintendent Gadingan, Davao del Norte police chief, Pandacan was killed by unidentified assailants along Aala Road in Barangay Mankilam at around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, as he was driving his motorcycle to work after dropping off his child at school.

Pandacan was employed as the driver of the Tagum City Police’s mobile patrol No. 4.

Jayson, on the other hand, was shot multiple times by assailants late Sunday as he was leaving his post as traffic enforcer at the new city hall building in Barangay Apokon, Rellon said.

Rellon lamented the fact that even security officers were not being spared by criminals.

The SMO is the former civil security unit and was tasked with helping the Tagum City police in the maintenance of peace and order in the city.

SMO members normally have handguns issued by the city government but because of the gun ban, their firearms had been recalled pending the issuance of an exemption by the Commission on Elections.

Jayson and Pandacan did not have their service guns on them when they were slain, Rellon said.

He disclosed that he has asked the police to conduct a deeper investigation into the two killings, saying these could be related, and pressed for a fast resolution.

However, Gadingan said it was premature to conclude that the killings were related although the police were considering the possibility.

Rellon said the two killings appear to be “work-related” and that the perpetrators could be “high-profile” killers.

He said the assailants in Pandacan’s killing were onboard a Mitsubishi Strada and had high-powered firearms.

“(Pandacan) had participated in several drug busts in the city,” Rellon said.

He said he reminded SMO personnel to take extra caution and adopt a “buddy system” whenever they move around the city.