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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Cops secure hacienda to foil violence
By Claudine C. Dumalag
TROOPERS of the 3rd Provincial Mobile Group were detailed to secure the tension-filled Hacienda Malaga-Cuenca, Barangay Robles, La Castellana town.
Supt. Mark Edison Belarma, acting director of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Noppo), said the deployment of PMG personnel aims at preventing the possible bloodshed between the management blue guards and members of the Task Force Mapalad.
Because of land dispute, members of the TFM are at odds with the hacienda management that resulted in Monday's shooting between both camps.
Belarma ordered Chief Insp. Iver Apellido, 3rd PMG group director, and one team of policemen from La Castellana police station to secure and maintain the peace and order in the place.
Belarma also said Senior Insp. Rosauro Francisco, town police chief, is now investigating the shooting and burning that involved the hacienda's security guards employed by Cornerstone and Integrated Services Inc. security agencies and some members of Task Force Mapalad.
"We are still establishing the real motive. This is a serious case that we have to look into," said Belarma.
Initial police investigation reports that reached NOPPO revealed some TFM members fired at some hacienda security guards at 10 a.m. Monday without any provocation.
The security guards told the police they were on their way to get some vegetables planted adjacent to the area occupied by TFM when they were fired at several times with homemade 12-gauge shotgun and .38 caliber revolver firearms.
Security guard Rogelio Ogatis identified the TFM members who fired at them as Guillermo Santillan, Edgardo de la Torre, Mario Dacquio and Rogelio Tabaosaures.
Aside from the shooting, Noppo investigators are also investigating reports that simultaneous to the exchange of gunfire, four nipa houses were burned.
Reports said a beneficiary of the government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program torched the nipa houses owned by TFM members, namely, Pedro Santillan, Lourdes de Leon, Nida Salmurin and Merlinda Garcesa.
Estimated damage of fire was pegged at P30,000, police said.
(January 19, 2005 issue)
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