Barangay chief, 2 others in Pasay cop’s slay held

A barangay chairman and two suspected hired gunmen were arrested two days after allegedly killing a cop in Pasay City, the Philippine National Police (PNP) disclosed yesterday.

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde presented at Camp Crame the arrested suspects identified as Nestor Advincula, chairman and resident of Barangay 46, Zone 6, Pasay; Norman Yrad, 19, allegedly the primary gunman; and his cohort Anthony Jay Monsalve, 33.

Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario Jr., Southern Police District (SPD) director, said Police Officer 2 Rafael Sibunga was shot dead last Friday on Dapitan Street in Barangay 7, Pasay City.

Police first arrested Yrad in a follow-up operation on Sunday. He bared during interrogation that he and his cohort were hired by Chairman Advincula to kill Sibunga in exchange for ₱20,000, according to Apolinario.

Sibunga was a former officer of the SPD who had just returned home from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Police Regional Office (PRO-ARMM) where he had been reassigned due to a grave misconduct case, Apolinario said.

Apolinario said the police are looking into Sibunga’s work and local politics as the possible motives behind the killing.

“Apparently, Sibunga was about to reveal a list of local chief executives who are involved in illegal drugs and allegedly, [Advincula] was included,” Apolinario said.

Apolinario also said the son of Sibunga ran in the barangay elections and challenged Advincula last May 14, but the former eventually lost.

“So, our investigators are also investigating politics as one of the possible motives,” he added.

Albayalde commended the Pasay cops and the Southern Police District for the immediate arrest of the suspects in Sibunga’s death.

The three suspects were charged with murder before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office yesterday, Apolinario said.