Duterte visits wake of cops ‘executed’ in Negros Oriental

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday evening personally extended his condolences to the families of the four police officers slain by suspected communist New People's Army (NPA) gunmen in Ayungon town, Negros Oriental.

He arrived at the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office's (NORPPO's) Camp Francisco Fernandez Jr. in Sibulan town, where the slain police officers lay in state, and condoled with the bereaved families of Police Corporal Relebert Beronio, Patrolman Raffy Callao, Patrolman Ruel Cabellon, and Patrolman Marquino de Leon.

Duterte also honored the cops by conferring them with the Order of Lapu-Lapu, Rank of Kalasag.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, July 20, 2019, condoles with the relatives of four police officers killed by suspected New People's Army members in Ayungon, Negros Oriental. Photo courtesy: Cindy Bonachita

Created by Duterte in 2017, the Order of Lapu-Lapu recognizes government workers and private individuals who provide "invaluable or extraordinary service in relation to a campaign or advocacy of the President."

The Rank of Kalasag is given to those who lost their lives as a direct result of participation in activities related to the President's campaigns and advocacies.

Aside from Duterte, other officials who attended the wake were Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, Philippine National Police chief Police General Oscar Albayalde, Education Secretary Leonor Briones, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino, and Central Visayas police chief Brigadier General Debold Sinas.

In a press conference on Friday, Sinas said that not only were the four slain cops ambushed, they were allegedly dragged, hogtied, buttstroked by at least 30 armed men. He described the killings as "summary executions."

The regional police chief noted that, based on autopsy findings, one of the slain cops suffered a fractured rib.

Also the trajectory of the gunshot wounds at the back of their heads suggested the victims were kneeling when they were shot.

The slain police officers were members of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion-7, assigned to a detachment in Sitio Nabingka, Barangay Mabato in Ayungon town.

They were verifying intelligence reports that NPA rebels were in the area when they were attacked, tortured, and killed.

According to the Presidential Communications Operations Office, dependents of the slain police officers will receive P250,000 financial assistance from the government. 

They also stand to get other benefits through the Comprehensive Social Benefit Program.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government can provide employment to the widows and other dependents while the Department of Trade and Industry may make available skills training. The Department of Health meanwhile, may extend medical assistance, the PCOO said. —DVM/KG, GMA News