SPECIAL TASK GROUP PROBES COP’S KILLING

The police are counting on three witnesses to help them identify the gunmen of Senior Insp. Porferio Gabuya Jr., who was deputy chief of the Guihulngan City Police Station

The police investigators are eyeing the active involvement of Senior Insp. Porferio Gabuya Jr. in the campaign against illegal drugs as one of the possible motives behind his murder last Dec. 19.

A special investigation task group (SITG) was formed on Friday, Dec. 21, to hasten the inquiry and determine if New People’s Army (NPA) hitmen were involved in the victim’s killing.

It is composed of personnel of the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7 and Guihulngan City Police Station.

For his part, Guihulngan Police Chief Christopher Navida told Superbalita Cebu that the NPA might be right in its statement denying responsibility for Gabuya’s murder.

The victim, Navida’s deputy, was drinking coffee inside an eatery across the police station when he was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding assassins.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Debold Sinas earlier tagged NPA hitmen as Gabuya’s killers, but NPA Negros Island command spokesperson Ka Juanito Magbanua denied the allegation in a TV report last Dec. 20.

The other motive that the police are looking into is the personal conflicts of Gabuya, who led his team in arresting several persons carrying loose firearms.

Gabuya, who was a former officer of the Cebu City Police Office, was also reportedly active in the anti-insurgency campaign in the city.

Navida said the threat from the NPA is real and they have tightened their security to defend themselves.

The police said they have three witnesses who might be able to help solve the case.

Investigators have obtained copies of the footage from two closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras of the neighboring establishments, but they failed to identify the culprits who covered their faces with masks.

They will check other CCTV cameras in the city and neighboring towns.

Navida denied that the 43 personnel who were relieved from the Talisay City Police Station early this year for alleged links to the illegal drug trade were transferred to Guihulngan.

Navida was assigned in Bohol before his transfer to Guihulngan.

He admitted that some personnel from Negros Oriental were transferred to Cebu while some officers from Bohol were transferred to Negros Oriental.