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Sunday, September 26, 2004
Cop, with kids in tow, chases, nabs snatcher
THIS policeman didn’t think twice.
With his two kids in tow, the off-duty cop chased a snatcher, collared him and sent him behind bars.
PO1 Benigno Andrew Ilagan of Santander Police Station was on his way to church with his two sons when he noticed a commotion right outside the Mt. Carmel Church along Magallanes St., Cebu City.
People told Ilagan that a churchgoer was just victimized by a snatcher who was wearing a yellow shirt and a cap.
Without any hesitation, Ilagan, armed with a .45 handgun, boarded his motorcycle, made his kids take the backseat and sped off to chase the snatcher.
It was the first time the policeman brought his kids along when responding to an alarm.
Ilagan, who lives in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City, was also off duty when the incident happened last Sept. 19.
About 300 meters from the church and in front of the Ermita barangay hall, Ilagan caught up with snatching suspect Gerzon Pardillo, also of Ermita.
The two silver necklaces (P2,200) of Emmalyn Labating were found in Pardillo’s possession.
Ilagan turned Pardillo over to a barangay tanod and went back to church with his sons.
After the mass, they went to Carbon police where Pardillo was brought. Pardillo has been charged with his fourth snatching case last Monday.
It took almost a week for Sun.Star to convince him to have his story published because for him, it was not worth writing saying it was just an ordinary incident.
He even admitted he did not realize that with what he did, he was putting his children at great risk since snatchers and robbers usually have one or two backups and are armed with handgun.
“Maybe it was only because of my instinct being a policeman that I immediately responded. I only realized the risk (on my children) when a friend pointed it out,” Ilagan said.
Ilagan also said his wife and parents did not react violently when he told them about what happened.
“Maybe because they have accepted that it was just part of my job and we are already used to those kind of incidents being residents of Ermita,” Ilagan said.
But for his sons Gabriel, 9, and Rafael, 6, it made them praise their father more for being so brave.
The boys told Sun.Star they even thought they were no longer hearing mass and had to go back home because there was a fight in front of the church.
Gabriel said he wants to be a policeman like his father when he grows up. Rafael, on the other hand, wants to become a priest, perhaps influenced by his being an altar boy in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Labangon.
While Gabriel said that when his father grabbed the snatcher, he was a bit scared thinking that something might happen to them, Rafael said he wasn’t at all.
Ilagan, a Computer Science graduate, has been in the police service for five years.
He graduated at the top of class 14, batch 1999 of the Regional Training School 7 in Apas, Cebu City and was given the Award of Excellence.
He has been married for nine years to Carmela, 33. They have three kids, with Therese, 4, as the youngest.
Before he was assigned to Santander two years ago, Ilagan had been assigned to Bohol, Negros Oriental and Sibonga, where he also received commendations. (MBG) |
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