Police looking into possible NPA involvement

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The deputy police chief for Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental was killed by riding-in-tandem suspects yesterday morning.

Police identified the fatality as Police Senior Inspector Porferio Gabuya, Jr., who was recently transferred from the Cebu City Police Office.

Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office director, Police Senior Superintendent Raul Tacaca, said Gabuya was having coffee at an eatery in front of the police station when he was shot by the still-unidentified gunmen.

The suspects, who covered their faces and wore sunglasses, immediately fled.

Gabuya was rushed to the city’s district hospital for treatment, but was declared dead on arrival after succumbing to multiple gunshot wounds across his body.

Tacaca also said the motorcycle used by the suspects did not have any license plates.

Police are presently looking into the possibility the gunmen were members of the New People’s Army.

They are also considering Gabuya’s previous police operations, particularly those involving the campaign against illegal drugs.

The attack was the second time a high-ranking Guihulngan City police officer was killed, following the ambush perpetrated by the NPA last year, which claimed the life of then-city police chief, Police Superintendent Arnel Arpon, along with four other cops./DGB, WDJ