5 cops, 13 others charged in killing of police hero

MANILA, Philippines — Eighteen suspects, including five cops, have been charged with murder for the killing of a police Medal of Valor awardee last February, a Philippine National Police (PNP) official said Friday. Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the National Capital Region Police Office (CIDG-NCRPO), said five of the suspects were cops and that clan war was apparently the motive for the killing PO2 Jamaron Sandag. All of those charged remain at large but police have enough evidence showing that they conspired in killing Sandag, Nerez said. The case was filed with the Department of Justice last week but was made public only on Friday. Named in the charge sheet were Police Officers 2 Borjan Jawali and Asmad Badlis; PO1 Said Wahid, Sukarno Adjod and Roderick Magsano, all assigned to the NCRPO’s Southern Police District. Also charged in the case were Gamar Janihim, the alleged mastermind, Aljon “Junjun “ Pawai Sala, Haron Gacao alias Pahambong, Gaini “Gani “ Wadja, Asman Amilasan alias Abuel, Salim Janihim, Ramili Wahid, Jahim Payao, Hadji Mobin Payao, and Majid Adbulhaman alias Shariff Larudin. Police said the identities of three other suspects have yet to be established. “They are all part and parcel on the general plan to kill PO2 Jamaron Sandag, a recipient of Medalya ng Katapangan which is equivalent to Medal of Valor," said Nerez. Last February, the wife of Sandag called the Taguig police to report that armed men were holding her husband hostage inside an apartelle in Taguig. She identified some of the suspects. Police surrounded the apartelle but found out hours later that nobody was inside and Sandag was missing. City officials dismissed the case as a false alarm. Sandag’s decomposing body was later recovered in a landfill in Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal on March 16, with police forensic experts identifying him through his dental records. Nerez said investigators have established that the suspects killed Sandag to avenge the death of relatives in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte, at a time when the slain cop was only 13 years old. Sandag was hailed as a hero in 2003 when he singlehandedly held at bay combined fighters of the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who attacked the police station and municipal hall in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, until military and police reinforcements arrived. - GMANews.TV