Ambush or legit bust? Dumpit dies in violence

AN ambush.

This was the claim of Maria Ella Amores, the live-in partner of SPO1 Adonis Dumpit, who was killed yesterday in a joint operation by the Regional Intelligence Division of Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7-Bohol.

Amores said that Dumpit, 55, left home early as he had been told that PRO 7 Director Debold Sinas would conduct a security briefing for President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Bohol today.

She was later told that a white sports utility vehicle chased Dumpit while he was driving his motorcycle, while a blue van blocked the road. A volley of gunshots ensued.

Dumpit fell about 50 meters from his house in Barangay San Isidro, Tagbilaran City.

“Wala ray five minutes naa nay nag buto-buto. Pag buto-buto, nagtuo lang ko nga tungod sa fiesta diri sa amoa. Ang akong pag-umangkon nga three years old nga iyang pinangga nibalik diri sa sulod niingon, ‘Daddy, Nay, gibangbang.’ Paggawas namo daghan nang tawo mao na to gipusil siya (The gunfire didn’t last five minutes. I thought it was because of the fiesta. When I got out, people had crowded around him),” Amores told SuperBalita Cebu.

15 packs of shabu

She said Dumpit had brought a hanger for his uniform. He had a book that one of her relatives had asked him to photocopy.

The team from the police and NBI said that Dumpit carried more than that: 15 medium packs of what appeared to be shabu in the utility box of his motorcycle.

NBI 7 Director Patricio Bernales said the operation against the controversial police officer was legitimate and they are ready to face any investigation.

NBI 7-Bohol Chief Rennan Augustus Oliva denied Amores’ claim that their operation was an ambush. He said they had monitored Dumpit’s illegal activities.

Senior Supt. Remos Medina, RID chief, had identified Dumpit as a drug protector. Dumpit’s illegal drug network allegedly started when he was transferred to Bohol from Cebu City in 2016.

Last May 25, Bohol Provincial Intelligence Branch operatives caught Sergio Tahanlangit. Dumpit allegedly called one of the officers and asked to downgrade the drug case, but he failed to get the favor.

The officer’s vehicle was strafed. Dumpit and an unknown companion looked for him. The incident was reported to NBI and 8888, the national public service hotline.

They knew each other

Oliva said that Dumpit did not sell shabu as the latter had underlings. The police officers reportedly had friends who are drug lords in Bohol.

NBI agents continued monitoring Dumpit until they received a report that Dumpit was on his way to deliver illegal drugs.

When the operatives identified themselves yesterday morning, Dumpit allegedly opened fire at them first. The RID and NBI operatives retaliated, hitting the officer multiple times.

Oliva said he did not understand why Dumpit fired at them, saying they knew each other when both were still assigned in Cebu City.

Dumpit’s hands were subjected by a Scene of the Crime Operation team to a paraffin test, which would determine whether he had really fired a gun.

Operatives also found, aside from the shabu, a pistol, three magazines and bullets.

Second in 17 days

Amores alleged that the operatives searched her house without a court warrant. She denied Dumpit was engaged in drug trafficking. She said Dumpit had P700 at the time, P200 for lunch and P500 to get the book photocopied.

Dumpit is the second active police officer in Central Visayas who was killed in a legitimate operation in 17 days.

Last June 10, Senior Inspector Raymond Hortezuela, a Cebuano assigned to the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office, was killed in a shootout with Counter-Intelligence Task Force members in Barangay Tipolo, Mandaue City.

In Talisay City, PO3 Ryan Martus Quiamco died with his wife after he engaged the anti-narcotics operatives in a shootout in August 2017.

Other active police officers---PO2 Melchizedek Batomalaque and PO3 Jonathan Tilos---were shot dead by unknown assassins this month. Last April 24, PO2 Kenneth Pogoy, an alleged narco-cop, was shot dead near Plaza Independencia in Cebu City.

Dumpit was reassigned to the Bohol Provincial Police Office after a series of assignments in Cebu, following his release from jail in 2016.

He had gone into hiding after Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso issued a warrant for his arrest on Jan. 8, 2010 for killing robbery suspect Ronron Go in 2004. The police officer surrendered on Feb. 1, 2010. He was convicted in August 2014 of homicide.

He spent six years in jail and was released on bail in May 2016 with the help of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. (With AYB, AZDL of Superalita)