32 Zambales cops face mistaken identity case

SUBIC, Philippines—A police informant and his wife on Monday filed an administrative case in the National Police Commission (Napolcom) against 32 policemen, including the police chief of San Antonio town, Zambales province, for attacking them during a drug buy-bust operation here last week.

The informant said policemen fired at their car on April 25. Their two children, who were inside the car when they were shot at, were unharmed but were traumatized by the incident.

“It’s likely that the motive was related to my work,” said the informant, a member of a barangay (village) nintelligence network in the town.

The administrative case was filed against Insp. Jonathan Bardaje, chief of the San Antonio police, and 31 policemen in the towns of San Antonio and Castillejos.

The informant said he still could not believe how his family survived the attack. He said he sped off when the policemen started firing at them.

Policemen approached him after the brief chase and took his licensed gun but did not say why they were fired at.

He said his family was eventually taken to the Subic police station where the policemen apologized to him.

“After we were ambushed, all Bardaje had to say was, ‘Sorry, sorry,’” the informant said.

“We would like all of those policemen involved here to be given the appropriate punishment for trying to kill me and my family,” he added.

Chief Insp. Oriano Mina, Subic town police chief, said the buy-bust operation of the San Antonio police was coordinated with his office but he denied that the informant and his family were ambushed by policemen.

“It was  not an ambush. They [San Antonio police] were tipped off about a certain person who has been a source of illegal drugs in their area. They had to do the operation within Subic’s jurisdiction but it was properly coordinated with us,” Mina said.

Mina, however, declined to provide details of the buy-bust operation, saying it was done by the San Antonio police.

In a phone interview, Bardaje told the Inquirer that the operation was legitimate and denied the informant was ambushed.

“It was a follow-up operation,” Bardaje said. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon