FALLEN. The wounded police officers after an encounter with a criminal group in Santa Margarita, Samar, on July 30, 2024. Three of their colleagues died in the shootout. (PNP photo)
TACLOBAN CITY – Police have intensified their manhunt against the members of the group who shot it out with law enforcers in Santa Margarita, Samar, on Tuesday, killing three police officers and wounding four others.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Maj. Marjorie Manuta, Eastern Visayas police regional office spokesperson, said all police units near the encounter site have been alerted to hunt the members of the criminal group.
Police arrested seven suspects, who also yielded several firearms and ammunition, after the shootout.
The suspects, aged between 23 and 68, are residents of upland Mahayag village, some 20 kilometers away from the town center.
On Tuesday, a team of police operatives were about to serve arrest warrants on Edito Ampoan Jr., the alleged gang leader, and members Jojo Altarejos and Rogelio Macorol when armed men fired on them, triggering a shootout.
The suspects are facing murder charges for killing a village chief, Tiburcio Ocong, in October 2015.
Killed during the encounter were Staff Sgt. Christian Tallo and Corporal Eliazar Estrelles Jr. of the 1st Samar Provincial Mobile Force Company, and M/Sgt. Paul Terence Paclibar of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion.
Wounded were Corporals Rannel Pedamato and Mark Jason Sixta, and Patrolmen Ham Kritnere Capalis and Mark Redoblado. (PNA)
