Manhunt ordered vs. alleged loggers who assaulted cops in Cagayan

Philippine National Police chief Police General Debold Sinas ordered a province-wide manhunt against alleged illegal loggers suspected of assaulting police in Cagayan.

The police team was conducting operations against illegal logging in the province when they were fired upon by suspects on Thursday night. A police officer was hurt.

“More aggressive police operations will continue against illegal logging activities on orders of President Rodrigo R Duterte despite this temporary setback,” the PNP chief said, according to a news brief issued on Saturday.

The team led by Police Lieutenant Randy Baccay, deputy chief of police of Peñablanca Police Station, was responding to reports of illegally-cut timber stockpiled in Sitio Dalayat, Minanga in Lagum Peñablanca when armed suspects fired gunshots, according to Police Brigadier General Crizaldo Nieves, regional director of Police Regional Office 2.

Baccay was wounded even as the rest of the team countered the attack.

One of the suspects identified as Ernest Sibbaluca y Dabbay, 45, a resident of Peñablanca, was arrested and brought to the Peñablanca Police Station for investigation.

Sibbaluca was found to have an arrest record in September 2019 for violating Presidential Decree 705 or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, according to Peñablanca Police Station chief of police Police Captain Rohaina Asalan.

The suspect will face criminal charges for direct assault and frustrated murder, Asalan added.

Meanwhile, police are conducting follow-up operations to recover the group's firearms used in the attack.

Sinas also ordered that P50,000 financial assistance be extended to Baccay for his medical expenses. 

The Department of the Interior and Local Government previously said it has ordered the PNP and local government units to intensify efforts against illegal mining and logging after the massive flooding in the province following the series of typhoons.

The Cagayan police said the operation held earlier was part of the city’s efforts to stop the widespread illegal logging in the province.  Cagayan Valley was one of the areas heavily-hit by the typhoons. —KG, GMA News