Ozamiz raiding teams did not plan to kill mayor, 14 others —police official

Policemen raided the houses of Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and his relatives to confiscate loose firearms, not to kill people, a police official said Monday.

Senior Superintendent Jaysen de Guzman, Misamis Occidental Provincial Police Office director, said more people would have been killed if the police team's mission was to kill the mayor and other members of his family.

"Nag-neutralize lang po tayo ng threat... Kita n'yo naman may mga nahuli tayong buhay, even ang vice mayor (Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez) ay nahuling buhay," De Guzman told Unang Balita in an interview.

He added: "Kung talagang ang intensyon ay papatayin po 'di sana mas marami siguro. May mga security sila na buhay po na nag-surrender."

De Guzman also believes that the police teams used enough force to defend themselves.

"Napaano naman po na bahala nang mamatay tayo doon kapag tayo ay nabaril," he said.

The police official added that they have proof that occupants of the mayor's house fired at policemen, including a police mobile with bullet holes.

The mayor, his wife Susan, brother Octavio and 12 other people were killed in simultaneous raids on four houses of the Parojinogs early Sunday.

Aside from the vice mayor, police also arrested Reynaldo Parojinog Jr. The siblings are currently detained at the Ozamiz City Police Station and are about to be transferred to Manila today.

De Guzman denied the vice mayor's claim that the pieces of evidence, including more than a kilogram of shabu and firearms, recovered from the house of the Parojinogs were planted.

He said the during the actual search, policemen were accompanied by barangay officials and members of the local media.

Senator Franklin Drilon on Sunday said that he was wondering why the search warrants were served at 2 a.m., while it was still dark.

De Guzman insisted that search warrants can be "served anytime of the day and night."

He said the police search would likely turn out negative if the warrants were served in broad daylight.

"Para masabi na successful iyon, para 'di ma-detect ang magsi-serve po noon. Kung broad daylight, kitang kita nila maraming tao. So tendency doon ay baka magnegative ang search," he said.

De Guzman, meanwhile, could not say if the mayor's wife was also armed and fired at the policemen.

He said questions about the deaths of the mayor, his wife and brother can only be answered by the results of the police forensic team's examination of the crime scene.

Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, chief of the Ozamiz City Police Station, said the raiding teams "paralyzed" CCTV cameras installed at the house of the mayor.

Espenido said the CCTV cameras were disconnected to protect the police's confidential agents, but assured that its recordings were not erased by the police.

De Guzman, meanwhile, said that he has yet to obtain a complete report about the disconnected CCTV cameras. —ALG/KVD, GMA News