MANILA — Police authorities arrested the suspect in the killing of a policeman in Antipolo City early Sunday.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame, Police Regional Office 4-A (Calabarzon) Director Chief Supt. Guillermo L. Eleazar said the suspect, Crispin P. Corpin, was positively identified by witnesses as one of two gunmen who shot PO3 Don Carlo D. Mangui, 32, in front of his house at 213 Chico St. Purok, Sumulong, Barangay dela Paz, Antipolo City.
PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde, meanwhile, said the suspect had previously served time behind bars for homicide and trespassing.
Corpin and another assailant, who is still at large, immediately escaped after shooting Mangui and upon reaching Marcos Highway, they shot a second person, Crist T. Baquiran of Sitio Patnubay, Barangay San Luis, Antipolo. Baquiran survived the attack.
The murder of Mangui could be related to the high-profile drug busts in Antipolo in the past few weeks, Eleazar said, adding that the victim could have been suspected of being an informant on drug personalities.
On April 1, agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested suspected pusher Rolando Cataulin, a 38-year old air conditioner technician, and confiscated from him one transparent plastic sachet of suspected shabu, weighing more or less 50 grams, worth PHP120,000.
Last May 18, PDEA, in coordination with the Antipolo City Police, 80th Infantry Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, also raided a drug den in Sitio Maagay 1, Barangay Inarawan, resulting in the arrest of 36 drug personalities.
Three drug personalities were able to flee during the operation.
The seized illegal drugs from the raid had an estimated street value of PHP294,440. Benjamin Pulta/PNA-northboundasia.com