Ozamiz raid probe starts

MANILA - The Philippine National Police (PNP) Internal Affairs Service (IAS) has started its investigation into last weekend's bloody raid at the residence of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, Sr.

The pre-dawn raid last Sunday had left 15 people dead, including the mayor, whose name appeared on President Rodrigo Duterte's "narco list".

PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos said the probe being conducted is a standard operating procedure in the PNP in cases where there are casualties involved in a law enforcement operation.

On June 30, a team from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the city and provincial police stormed the compound of the Parojinog family in Ozamiz City but the operation turned violent after the mayor's security team allegedly fired shots at the policemen.

The policemen were to serve six search warrants against the mayor, his daughter Ozamiz City Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez, son Reynaldo Jr., and Provincial Board Member Ricardo Parojinog.

The raid resulted in the killing of mayor Parojinog, his wife, and 13 others.

Thirteen people were arrested including the vice mayor and Reynaldo Jr.

Last Monday, Parojinog-Echavez who was transferred to Camp Crame in Quezon City, along with her brother, claimed that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras inside their house were cut by the raiding team to hide the irregularities committed during the raid. SunStar Philippines