Jolo cops in fatal shooting of soldiers still in hiding —Sinas

The nine former police officers behind the killing of four Philippine Army Intelligence officers in Jolo in June 2020 are still in hiding with the help of their relatives, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Debold Sinas said Monday.

On January 14, Jolo, Sulu Regional Trial Court issued arrest warrants against the dismissed policemen, who were formerly under PNP custody but were turned over to their families and lawyers. 

"So minamanmanan namin at minomonitor namin kung nasaan sila. Ang last report po ng PRO-BAR (Police Regional Office - Bangsamoro Administrative Region) ay nasa Jolo pa rin po sila at nagtatago sa mga mga kamag-anakan nila," Sinas said during the police organization's weekly briefing at Camp Crame, Quezon City, adding that they have yet to capture the 9 former policemen.

(We are monitoring and tracking them down. The last report from PRO-BAR was they were staying at Jolo where they are hiding from their relatives.)

"So tinitingnan namin kung sino ang mahuli namin na wala namang ibang casualties at wala naman madamay. So sa ngayon tingnan namin kung puwede ba sila mag surrender sa amin," he added.

(We are ramping up measures to capture them so that there will be no more casualties. For now, we are waiting for their surrender.)

Sinas also noted that they are coordinating with the former policemen's families for their voluntary surrender.

"Patuloy po ang pakipag-ugnayan namin sa pamilya na kung puwede mag voluntary surrender sila pero hanggang ngayon wala pa pong gusto mag-avail," Sinas said.

The Philippine military had expressed dismay over the release of the nine police officers, who were dismissed on January 1.

The four victims in the June 29, 2020 fatal shooting are intelligence officers Major Marvin Indamog, Captain Irwin Managuelod, Sergeant Eric Velasco, and Corporal Abdal Asula. The Army personnel were on an anti-terrorism mission to track down suicide bombers when the nine police operatives flagged them down and opened fire, killing the soldiers.—Consuelo Marquez/LDF, GMA News