Thursday, January 11, 2007 Police see vendetta in cop slay try
MANGALDAN -- Police investigators here said they are looking into vengeance as the motive behind the shooting and injuring of policeman Fernando Dotong on Monday.
Mangaldan Police Chief Lloyd Millan said Dotong was the principal witness in a shooting incident in 2004 wherein two men, allegedly both members of a gun-for-hire syndicate operating in the region, were arrested and charged for killing also a Mangaldan policeman. He said one of the accused was convicted while the other was acquitted of the crime.
During investigations, Millan said witnesses identified the acquitted man as one of the gunmen who shot Dotong while the policeman was driving his motorcycle to work along a national highway in Barangay Salay here. He, however, said he will wait for Dotong to confirm the witnesses' testimony.
Meanwhile, Dotong, who is now recuperating from the three gunshot wounds he sustained, was transferred to another hospital for security reasons.
Millan said they learned from the security personnel of the hospital where Dotong was previously confined that suspicious-looking men went to the place asking if the injured policeman was there.
Police Regional Director Leopoldo Bataoil assured the family of Dotong that the policeman will be secured. He said justice will also be rendered to the victim as he has instructed Pangasinan Police Provincial Director Alan Purisima to utilize all available resources to ensure that the gunmen will also be arrested.
"It is unfortunate that a dedicated and hardworking policeman like Dotong should meet such an untoward incident," said Bataoil who asked his men not to be demoralized by what happened to Dotong.
He told his men that the attempt on Dotong's life "should instead serve as inspiration to all of us to continue fighting the criminals." (LCMY/Sunnex)
