Cebu town police chief shot dead in ambush
CEBU CITY—The police chief of Poro town on Camotes Island was killed on Monday afternoon in an ambush by two motorcycle-riding gunmen believed to be hired by a big drug syndicate.
The victim, Senior Insp. Jonas Tahanlangit, arrived at the port in San Francisco town, also in Camotes, about 4:45 p.m. and was driving his black Hilux pick-up truck to Poro when he was attacked. Two teenagers, who hitched a ride with him, were wounded.
The killers are connected to a “big-time” drug syndicate operating on the island, Senior Supt. Clifford Gairanod, Cebu provincial police director, told a news conference on Tuesday. Their identities are already known and lawmen were hunting them down, he said.
Death threats
Gairanod said Tahanlangit had been receiving death threats, presumably from drug traffickers who were affected by the victim’s intensified operations.
Tahanlangit had come from Cebu City where he attended a court hearing on Monday. He took a boat to the port in San Francisco about 4:30 p.m. and drove his truck to Poro.
About a kilometer away from the port, one of the killers fired at Tahanlangit’s vehicle with a .45 cal. pistol. “We believe that the gunmen tailed him all the way from Cebu and even boarded the vessel with him,” Gairanod said.
Tahanlangit was first hit in the left shoulder, forcing him to stop driving, Garainod said. The other killer alighted from the motorcycle, opened the door of the truck, and shot Tahanlangit in the neck, he added.
The wounded teenagers were identified as Rene James Sampan, 16, a son of the Sta. Cruz barangay chair in San Francisco, and Teresa Montalban, 19. Both are now in stable condition.
Tahanlangit was brought to Ricardo Maningo Memorial Hospital in San Francisco where he was declared dead on arrival.
Witnesses described the killers as “young,” possibly ages between 17 and 25 years old, and sporting long hair. Gairanod said the gunmen could just be wearing wigs.
At least five empty bullet shells were recovered from the crime scene.
