How they got Prevendido

ILOILO CITY – Luck, answered prayers and a determined spirit all came into play to neutralize Western Visayas’ alleged drug kingpin Richard Prevendido last Friday.

And for Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, the Iloilo police chief who led the operation, his fully loaded governmentissued Glock 17 9mm pistol could also be credited.

Tayaba said Prevendido had been in hiding for eight months well before the arrest warrant for Criminal Case No. 16-79515 for violation of Section 11, Paragraph 1(5) of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 was issued against him.

When the arrest warrant came out, the police were even more determined to arrest the fugitive – but failed.

With Prevendido becoming a bigger challenge each day, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) recruited an action agent who had access or a member of the Prevendido drug group, the criminal gang which the slain drug personality led.

In May 2017, the PRO-6 launched Complete Operational Plan (COPLAN) “BatoBantiling Charlie,” a team dedicated to run after Prevendido. A dedicated tracker/focus team from the regional, provincial and city levels was made.

Operational research was also conducted to unearth Prevendido’s real properties and those of his relatives.

The team did monitoring at Crystal Cove Beach Resort in Barangay Igcadium, San Joaquin, Iloilo registered under the name Maria Mae Gregori.

They also checked on his rest house in Barangay Daragan, Buenavista, Guimaras registered under his name and a breeding farm in Barangay Camiros, Anilao, Iloilo.

The team visited various places all over Iloilo such as Deca Homes Subdivision in Barangay Pandac, Pavia; Barangay Abilay Norte, Oton; Barangay Pitogo, San Joaquin; Barangay

Pulao, Dumangas; Barangay Dabong, Janiuay and Sitio Turo-Turo, a boundary village in Lambunao and Janiuay.

They also scoured Sitio Ginit and Olang in Barangay Sibariwan in Dumarao, Capiz and Barangay Tacay in Buenavista, Guimaras.

Tayaba said that as early as April 2017, they received information from the action agent that Prevendido was hiding in Landheights Subdivision.

The real breakthrough happened on Aug. 31 as the

action agent met with Tayaba and confirmed that Prevendido was in a house, owned by a certain Espinosa, in the subdivision.

Around 4 p.m. of Sept. 1, the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Regional Intelligence Division (RID) team led by Superintendent Julius Balano received a tip that the suspect was present at the house.

Not a minute was wasted as the team got ready to strike Prevendido’s lair. The team was composed of 10 personnel, including Tayaba, from the Iloilo Provincial Police Office, eight from the Iloilo City Police Office – Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, three from the Jaro Police Station and eight from the RID.

Twelve personnel composed the assault team while others stayed on the ground.

“We banged the gate to gain entry at around 8:30 p.m. of Sept. 1, as we identified ourselves as policemen,” Tayaba said.

Three gunshots greeted them.

Tayaba, another officer, his close-in personnel, and an RID operative encircled Room 2 of the house without knowing who the occupant was.

“What we were certain of was that Prevendido was inside,” he said.

The three-man assault team first tackled Room 1 and immediately killed Prevendido’s son, Jason, who managed to fire the first shot but did not hit anyone.

As for the elder Prevendido, “the moment he opened the door, he immediately fired his gun,” Tayaba said.

He claimed that they were fully aware that Prevendido would not allow himself to be caught.

“Given the chance, he will flee. But now, he would fight until his death,” Tayaba said.

Prevendido apparently managed to fire his gun thrice before he slumped to the floor with four gunshot wounds – one on his forehead, one under the chin and two on his chest.

Tayaba said one of the personnel who was with him did not manage to fire his gun after he got rattled.

Apparently, it was Tayaba’s reliable Glock 17 that finished off Prevendido.

Aside from the police operatives’ efforts, Tayaba was thankful that Prevendido apparently did not see his end coming that day.

“Iniisip ko pa nga na kung may granada siya at hinagis niya ’yun sa amin, baka marami kaming namatay (I was thinking that if he had a grenade and threw it to us, many of us would have been killed),” he said.

Instead of using an AK-47 assault rifle, Prevendido used a .45 caliber pistol.

Tayaba also noted that the house was not equipped with a closed-circuit television camera.