3 killed, 10 caught in police raids
4 out of 11 men named in warrants escape from cops
Police identified the 3 men who died in a shootout during simultaneous raids as Jojo Gañolon, Jaylhone Belamide Mercado and Lorenzo Coronel Gañolon and Mercado were both shot inside the house of Gañolon, who escaped from detention nearly 3 years ago and was one of the 10 most wanted men in Cebu Province
THREE men were shot and killed in simultaneous raids yesterday in Alcoy and Dalaguete towns, including a detainee who escaped nearly three years ago, while 10 others were arrested.
The police, who conducted the raids in the hinterland barangays, said that among those arrested were the husband of a
barangay captain, a tanod and two incumbent barangay councilmen.
They also confiscated 17 guns, two grenades, ammunition, packs of shabu, a big bundle of marijuana and P15,000 cash.
“These criminal gangs are responsible for the series of robberies and holdups, extortion cases, rape, cattle-rustling, unsolved killings and drug pushing in the municipalities of Alcoy, Argao, Boljoon and Dalaguete,” said PNP Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Tom Bañas.
He identified the three men who died in the shootout as Jojo Gañolon, Jaylhone Belamide Mercado and Lorenzo Coronel. Gañolon and Mercado were both shot inside Gañolon’s house.
Gañolon reportedly escaped after attending a court hearing in November 2011, while being escorted back to the provincial jail. He then was suspected of becoming a hired gun and made it to the list of the 10 most wanted persons in Cebu Province.
The three men led three criminal groups who allegedly extorted money from farmers and business owners in some southern towns, said Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Noel Gillamac.
“Helpless ang mga tawo diha, kay kung moreport sila patyon man sila (The people were helpless against them, because they were told they would get killed if they reported to the authorities),” said Gillamac.
Complaints for illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of explosives and illegal possession of drugs will be filed against these groups.
Menace
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III commended Senior Supt. Gillamac and the police teams for the operations, saying that these “criminal elements had been operating and victimizing residents in the mountain barangays of Dalaguete and Alcoy for some time now.”
Also arrested during the raids yesterday were Erwin Amandoron, 41, husband of Nalhub, Dalaguete Barangay Captain Riza Amandoron. (Gañolon, one of those who got shot, was report- edly the barangay captain’s nephew.)
The police also caught Jolomaynon barangay tanod Lucino Quevedo, 58; Jolomaynon Barangay Councilman Michael Manriquez, 45; Nug-as Barangay Councilman Timoteo Amaca, 35, and Hermigildo Capala, 65, who is from Barangay Cansojong, Talisay City.
(It was in Capala’s house that the police found the P15,000.)
11 warrants
Also arrested and presented to the media yesterday were Barangay Nug-as resident Mario Coronel, 49, whose 20-year-old son Alvin Coronel was also arrested; Esteban Salonoy, 65, from Barangay Jolomaynon; and Vicente Asinjo, 36, and Randy Belda, 32, both from Barangay Nalhub.
Regional Trial Court Judge Soliver Peras had issued 11 search warrants for 11 persons suspected of pushing drugs and possessing unlicensed firearms. Six were arrested, Lorenzo Coronel got killed, and four escaped.
Those who escaped but who will still face charges are Jonathan Moran and Arnel Bacatan, both from Barangay Nugas, and William Salonoy and John Michael Mejares, both of Barangay Jolomaynon.
During the operations, the police recovered one 9mm pistol, six .45 pistols, eight .38 revolvers, two .357 revolvers, two fragmentation grenades, assorted magazines and ammunition, dried marijuana and packs of shabu. (An inventory was still ongoing at the time of the press conference late yesterday afternoon.)
Supt. Rodolfo Albotra, CPPO Investigation and Detective Management Bureau and Provincial Intelligence Branch head, denied the allegation that the police carted away P50,000 from the Gañolon family.
Albotra said that the police turned over the cash recovered from Gañolon’s body to the wife. Albotra told reporters that he also ordered his men not to touch the cash box, where the P50,000 was reportedly hidden.
Diverse market
The raids were planned since last month, said Senior Insp. Joseph Birondo, Dalaguete police chief. Police had received reports about the rampant selling of drugs in Nalhub, mainly operated allegedly by Gañolon.
“Lain-lain lang ni ang mopalit sa ilaha: mga maninda ug utanon, habal-habal drivers ug uban pa (Different types of people buy drugs from them: vegetable vendors, motorcycle drivers and others),” he said.
Barangay Nalhub sprawls some 25 kilometers away from the town proper. To reach Nalhub, the police teams passed by Barangay Mantalongon, known as the summer capital and vegetable basket of Cebu, before going through uneven dirt roads.
When the police arrived at Jojo Gañolon’s house at 5:30 a.m., the suspect was inside, awake.
Mabeth Dibdib, 26, the common-law wife of Gañolon, told Sun.Star Cebu she saw the police standing outside their wooden gate when they woke up.
Boy survives
When the police stormed their house, she was pushed away, leaving Gañolon and their oneyear-old son James Francis inside.
She heard gunfire for around five minutes, then silence took over.
Gañolon, 28, was lying lifeless on their bed, with blood on him, when she found her way back inside. His companion, Jaylhone Mercado, was slumped on the ground outside their comfort room.
Dibdib said she found their son crying inside. “Papa, bang bang” were the first words uttered by the boy.
Dibdib said she didn’t know about Gañolon’s activities because the latter was secretive and kept his belongings in a locked drawer.
She said that Mercado visited them sometimes.
During the interview, Dibdib lamented that the police took some money from her husband. She didn’t specify the amount.
In Barangay Nalhub, the police also caught Erwin Amandoron, the barangay chief’s husband.
Neighbors
Birondo said that Amandoron’s arrest stemmed from complaints of residents who saw him carrying firearms outside his house several times.
In the same town, four people, including a barangay councilman, were arrested in Barangay Jolomaynon: Quevedo, Manriquez, Capala and Salonoy.
Birondo said that Manriquez, a barangay councilman of Jolomaynon, reportedly served as the group’s planner, but that it the Salonoy brothers led the operation.
The Salonoy brothers, Birondo said, were believed to be responsible for a string of shootings in Dalaguete town, including the murder of a woman who was dumped down a cliff last September. Their father, Esteban Salonoy, was among those arrested yesterday.
From July to September, since Bañas took over at the helm, the PRO 7 has exceeded its target number of firearms to confiscate, 123, and seized around P42 million worth of illegal drugs.
“Walang target target, trabaho lang nang trabaho. Habang nandiyan sila, sila ang target ko (I am not talking about targets here, I just work. While these drug pushers are still there, they are my targets),” Bañas said.