CEBU CITY -- Police clarified Friday that no policeman died in relation to the killing of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 (Central Visayas) agent Von Rian Tecson in Carcar City last Wednesday.
In a press conference, Police Regional Office 7 (Central Visayas) Director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas issued the clarification following reports connecting the Tecson ambush-slay with the injury suffered by one SPO1 Roderick Balili of the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG), also Wednesday.
"There is no such thing as police namatay (died). There was just a (separate) commotion before the Tecson incident. It has nothing to do with Tecson," Sinas said.
Initial report from the RSOG office said Balili and two other intelligence agents were dispatched to the town of Pinamungajan, 60 km. southwest of Cebu City.
Balili's team was reportedly conducting a surveillance on Nilo Quirante, a high-value target for illegal drugs who has a pending arrest warrant.
Sinas said initial information gathered from Balili's team said the wounded cop was at the backseat of RSOG's vehicle when an accidental firing happened.
The driver of the Toyota Altis, the service vehicle of RSOG, reportedly passed the .9-mm Glock service firearm of Balili to him while the car passed through a hump that caused the gun to go off.
Sinas said Balili is alive and is in stable condition. He said they are protecting the intelligence agent following the connection made to the ambush-slay of PDEA-7 agent Tecson.
The regional police chief said they are conducting separate investigations on Balili and Tecson.
Sinas said they also welcome other law enforcement agencies, including the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to investigate the two separate incidents.
On Thursday afternoon, Tecson's family went to the NBI-Central Visayas office and asked the agency to conduct a parallel investigation on the killing of the PDEA-7 operative. (PNA)
