Awol cop carrying ‘hit list’ slain by Caloocan peers

A Caloocan City policeman who had gone absent without official leave (Awol) was killed Thursday night by fellow officers who stopped him on the road because his motorcycle fitted the description of the getaway vehicle used in an ambush that happened just minutes earlier.

After being gunned down, PO3 Elpidio Manding was found carrying a list containing several names with corresponding numbers, as well as a packet believed to contain “shabu,” according to an investigator.

“The names were those of dead people we had already encountered in previous cases,” said PO3 Rhyan Rodriguez, the officer on the case, noting that the numbers may be “prices on a hit list.”

Tip from an earlier attack

A pistol-wielding Manding reportedly fired at Supt. Reydante Ariza before he was shot at Phase 9, Sampalukan, Barangay 176, Bagong Silang, around 11 p.m.

Ariza flagged Manding down because his motorcycle—a red, black and white Honda Wave—was similar to the one used by the gunman who killed  Restituto Romero Jr. on San Vicente Street.

The description of the bike was provided by a concerned citizen who saw the attack on Romero earlier that night, Rodriguez said.

“Manding did not stop. He just drove away and fired,” the investigator added in an interview.

Recovered from Manding was the Honda Wave motorcycle without license plates, a .45-caliber pistol and a plastic sachet containing suspected shabu.

Romero’s name was on the list recovered from Manding but it did not have a corresponding number, Rodriguez said. TVJ