Off-duty cop killed in Caloocan

A barangay captain in Caloocan City is facing two counts of murder for allegedly killing a rookie policeman and a jeepney barker on Saturday afternoon.

Barangay 128 Chair Ronald Romero was placed under arrest following the incident although he remains confined at the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center for gunshot wounds in the leg and back.

Caloocan police chief Supt. Bartolome Bustamante told the Inquirer in a phone interview that Romero would be charged with the deaths of PO1 Richmond Mataga, a member of the city police force, and a barker from Quezon City known only as Michael.

Romero would also be charged with frustrated homicide after he wounded a bystander who was not identified. Bustamante said they would file the case against the barangay official either on Sunday night or Monday morning.

According to the police, Mataga, who was with his girlfriend, Jhoanna, was driving his motorcycle near the corners of Binhagan and Cabatuan Streets in Barangay 129 when he heard gunfire.

Although he was in civilian clothes, Mataga rushed to the site.

“From there, he saw [Romero] shooting Michael who already slumped on the street,” said Bustamante, adding that it was not clear what happened next.

Witnesses, however, said that the policeman shot Romero to stop him from shooting the barker who had been involved in a previous fight with the barangay official.

The suspect, however, fired back at the policeman, hitting him in the chest, according to Bustamante.

An autopsy showed that Mataga was hit three times in the chest at close range, the wounds close to his heart.

“[Romero’s] actions were uncalled for. He [is] a person in authority … His job is to [only] incapacitate a person, not kill someone. Then his job is to bring that person to the hospital, too,” Bustamante said.

“As [for our policeman], he was doing his duty. What happened was really sad. He (Romero) had no right to kill him. It’s not right that he (Romero) shot him (Mataga) at close range after seeing him fall [to the ground]. He should have respected the process. But no, there was clear intention to kill. The intention to kill was deliberate,” he added.