A police officer was shot dead in a buy-bust operation at Barangay Abilay in Iloilo’s Oton town on Saturday, November 28.
Thirty-two-year-old Police Corporal Felfranz Lumahang of Barangay Batuan, Oton, died of multiple gunshot wounds on his body while undergoing treatment at the Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital.
According to Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) director, Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, the shooting incident happened at 3:20 p.m. while the victim, a member of IPPO’s Drug Enforcement Unit, was establishing a buy-bust operation.
Gorero said that while waiting for the subject of the operation, two armed men riding on a motorcycle arrived wherein the backrider shot Lumahang several times.
Gorero believed that Lumahang’s death was in relation to their previous anti-drug operation in Barangay San Rafael in Iloilo City’s Mandurriao district.
Two hours before the shooting incident, Lumahang and other IPPO personnel with officers of the Mandurriao Police Station conducted a buy-bust operation against Mary Lee Zaragoza of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao who yielded 12 sachets of suspected shabu with street value of P80,000.
The police poseur buyer bought P19,500 worth of suspected shabu from Zaragoza and she was brought to the Mandurriao Police Station for interrogation.
“After the interrogation, Lumahang conducted a follow-up operation in Oton town where he was shot,” the IPPO director added.
Meanwhile, Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) director, Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, ordered the IPPO to intensify its investigation to identify the suspects and to file appropriate cases against them.
“The death of Corporal Lumahang will not be put to waste. Our pursuit to hunt down drug personalities will continue in order to achieve a drug-free Western Visayas,” Pamuspusan added.
The PRO-6 is saddened of what happened to Lumahang and expressed sympathy to his family. “Corporal Lumahang, who dedicated his life to serve the Ilonggos, will never be forgotten. The men and women of PRO-6 will forever be grateful for the courage he showed and for his devotion to police service,” Pamuspusan said.
The PRO-6 will also assist in the processing of all the claims and assistance that the government could extend to Lumahang’s family./WDJ