A policewoman from Tabuelan town is the third active officer shot dead by unidentified assailants in Cebu in 29 days.
The victim, PO1 Avita Agudo Sarzuelo, is the first female officer killed in Central Visayas after President Rodrigo Duterte started his term on June 30, 2016.
She succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds in the head and other parts of her body after she was attacked by four gunmen riding on two motorcycles while she was driving her car past 5 a.m. yesterday.
Sarzuelo, 46, is the seventh active non-commissioned police officer killed in an ambush or legitimate operations since August 2017.
She was reportedly a batchmate of Kalunasan, Cebu City Barangay Councilor Roel Mabano, a retired Police Officer 3, and Ranilo Valiente, a retired senior police officer 2. Mabano was shot dead outside the Kalunasan barangay hall last July 10 while Valiente was gunned down in Mandaue City last June 24.
Tabuelan Police Chief Emmanuel Rabaya said they are looking into Sarzuelo’s alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade. Sarzuelo, a former member of Tabuelan Police Station, was transferred to Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO)-Provincial Holding and Accounting Unit in September 2017.
Investigators will also look into the conflict that Sarzuelo was involved in last month. A male Tabuelan resident reported to the police station after receiving a beating from Sarzuelo during a fiesta.
Sarzuelo was driving her car, a black Toyota Yaris, when she was attacked about 50 meters from her residence around 5:20 a.m. She was reportedly on her way to the public market where she has a meat store and eatery.
The assailants fled towards Tuburan, Rabaya said.
Witnesses saw two of the perpetrators armed with an automatic rifle and a pistol.
Rabaya said he was told by Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Manuel Javier Abrugena to solve the case as soon as possible.
Last June 13, PO3 Jonathan Tilos of Ginatilan Police Station was shot dead in Alegria, Cebu after his gym workout. Tilos, a former intelligence officer, reportedly had links to a drug lord.
In Toledo City, PO2 Melchizedek Batomalaque was killed by two assailants outside his residence last June 19. The officer was transferred outside the CPPO after his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Last April 24, PO2 Kenneth Pogoy was shot dead near Plaza Independencia in Cebu City. He had been assigned to Marawi City before he was attacked.
In operations initiated by the police and other law enforcement agencies in Central Visayas, three active police officers were killed in shootouts in the past 11 months. They were SPO1 Adonis Dumpit, Senior Insp. Raymond Hortezuela and PO3 Ryan Martus Quiamco.