A laborer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) who volunteered as a tanod was stabbed and mauled by two men he accosted last Sunday night in barangay Francia in Virac, resulting in his untimely death.
In its report, the Catanduanes Police Provincial Office said the suspects, Jackie Lopez Evangelista, 31, married and a resident of Francia, and Ryan Coronejo Rosales, 28, of Rawis, were arrested in a hot pursuit operation conducted by joint elements of the Virac Municipal Police Station (MPS), Regional Intelligence Unit 5 (RIU-5), Regional Special Operations Unit/ Regional Police Drug Enforcement Unit 5 (RSOU/RPDEU-5) and the Provincial Intelligence Unit(PIU).
According to the report, Gerald Tabios Avila, 39, single, was on the night shift as barangay tanod at about 8:45 P.M. of May 10, 2020 when a heated argument erupted between him and Evangelista.
Evangelista then began punching the volunteer while his companion, Rosales, also joined in mauling the victim.
When the tanod fell to the pavement, Rosales drew a knife and repeatedly stabbed Avila on the back as Evangelista continued hitting him.
Responding members of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC ) Emergency Rescue Unit managed to bring the victim to the Eastern Bicol Medical Center (EBMC) but he was declared dead on arrival.
The two suspects are now in custody of the Virac police while a murder charge is being prepared for filing against them.
In another violent incident last weekend, an abaca stripper was found dead with a gaping wound on his neck minutes after he cried out for help in Sagrada, Bagamanoc.
The town police learned of the incident from barangay chairman Jose delos Santos, who went to the police station on May 10, 2020 the morning along with Wilson Interior, who found the victim’s body.
Interior told police investigators that at around 10 P.M. of May 9, he heard the victim, Olpiano Salvador Borja Jr., 45, an abaca stripper, single and resident of San Isidro (Langob), Pandan, shouting for help near the residence of his neighbor, Jose Torres.
When he went out of his house, Interior saw the bloodied victim slumped against the fence.
The report did not state whether Borja was brought to the hospital while still alive or the time of his death.
However, it said that the postmortem examination showed the victim died due to hypovolemic shock caused by the massive loss of blood from the wound on his neck.
The police are now conducting an investigation into the circumstances of his death so as to identify and arrest the perpetrators of the crime. It requests the public with any information on the incident to go to the Bagamanoc police station or call cellphone number 09073535889 or 09985986017.
In another development, the Number 5 Most Wanted Person of Moriones, Tondo was arrested in Viga town last week.
A manhunt operation launched by operatives of the Viga police station led to the capture of Jester Roi Ataop Miranda, 29, single and an abaca stripper of barangay Rizal, last Sunday, May 10, at 11 A.M.
He was nabbed on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 38 Presiding Judge Ma. Celestina Mangrobang, in connection with the homicide case filed against Miranda by the Moriones, Tondo Police Station 2, Manila Police District.
He remains in custody of the Viga police pending turnover to the Tondo police.
Meanwhile, two residents of Bato town were apprehended in an anti-illegal gambling operation of the San Miguel police station in barangay Aroyao last Sunday.
Jomari Escalicas Taule, 21, single, and Antonio Reyes Tevar, 40, married, both residents of Guinobatan, Bato, were unfortunate in failing to evade police officers who raided an illegal cockfighting activity at noon of May 10.
Confiscated during the raid were seven fighting cocks, five of them dead or dying, along with gaffing tape and a gaff.
The two men will be charged with violation of PD 449 (Cockfighting Law) as amended by PD 1602 (Prescribing Stiffer Penalties on Illegal Gambling).