Pardo cop shot in Talisay

A policeman assigned in Cebu City was hurt Thursday night after two men on board a motorcycle ambushed him in Barangay Bulacao, Talisay City.

Local police believed that the incident was related to PO1 Feliciano Yballe's previous assignment as an anti-illegal drugs operative.

SPO3 Yvonne Ilustrisimo, who is leading the investigation, told SunStar Cebu that Yballe left the Pardo Police Station on his motorcycle around 8 p.m. last Thursday.

As he was traveling home, Yballe noticed two men on a motorcycle tailing him.

Yballe tried to lose them by heading to the interior of Barangay Inayawan and exiting in Barangay Bulacao, Cebu City.

But the two men were still hot on his trail.

When Yballe reached a private school in Barangay Bulacao in Talisay City, the passenger of the tailing motorcycle fired several shots at him, hitting him once in the back.

The two assailants then fled toward Cebu City.

Yballe drove himself to the Pardo Police Station where he reported the incident.

His colleagues brought him to a private hospital in Cebu City.

Ilustrisimo believed there were more than two men tailing Yballe just before the ambush.

“There must have been more than two because they wouldn't dare take on a cop who they know can fight back,” Ilustrisimo said in Cebuano.

He said the attempt on Yballe's life may have been job-related.

While he is assigned as a police representative for the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council in Pardo, Yballe worked as an anti-illegal drug operative for the station.

Ilustrisimo said they are still trying to identify the assailants.

Police Regional Office 7 Director Jose Mario Espino has ordered an investigation on the incident.

He directed the Talisay City Police Station to determine the motive of the attack.

He also tasked Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria to look into the incident.

The CCPO is looking at drug personalities in Pardo as being behind the shooting.

"He (Yballe) was reportedly conducting surveillance on a drug personality and may have been sensed by the said person on his way home after duty," Doria said.

According to Doria, Yballe sensed three men on board motorcycles tailing him in Barangay Bulacao, Talisay City at 8:05 p.m.

He parked by the roadside to accost them but he was shot.

The bullet pierced his shoulder but he managed to evade three more shots from the gunmen.