PNP chief, Gen. Debold Sinas. (File photo)
MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, on Thursday ordered a manhunt against the drug suspect who shot and wounded an undercover police operative during a buy-bust operation in Oriental Mindoro.
Senior M/Sgt. Sergeant Rolly Castellano, a member of the Provincial Intelligence Unit of Oriental Mindoro Police Provincial Office, is now in critical condition after sustaining a gunshot wound in the head during the operation in Roxas town on Tuesday.
In a report to Camp Crame, Police Regional Office 4-B (Mimaropa) director, Brig. Gen. Pascual Muñoz, said the suspect Jonas Galicia, a native of Mansalay town, apparently sensed the entrapment and drew a gun to evade arrest.
The suspect fled on board a motorcycle after the shooting and is now the subject of massive manhunt operations by the Oriental Mindoro Police Provincial Office.
“This incident shows the risks faced by anti-illegal drugs operatives when confronting drug suspects and syndicates who will not be captured without a fight,” said PNP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, in a statement.
He added that Sinas ordered Muñoz to attend to the medical needs of Castellano.
In his operational guidance issued to PNP units when he assumed command as Chief PNP, Sinas underscored the need for operating units to be equipped with protective gear when engaged in police operations.
The 'poseur-buyer' operatives in buy-bust operations, however, need to be on alert in case their targets suddenly suspect that they are dealing with law enforcers.
In other anti-illegal drug operations, the PNP is stepping up supply reduction initiatives in anticipation of the increased demand for illegal drugs in the coming holiday season.
More aggressive eradication operations of marijuana farms are underway in places where these are prevalent.
Continuing police operations in the Cordillera Administrative Region over the past two days have resulted in the eradication of 27,400 fully-grown marijuana plants with an estimated value of PHP4.9 million, particularly in Kibungan and Bakun towns in Benguet Province.
Operatives also confiscated 2,500 marijuana seedlings worth PHP300,000 planted on public land and communal forests.
The plants and seedlings were burned and uprooted on-site with proper documentation and coordination with regional offices of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. (PNA)
