THE Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) is looking into the reported drug link of a slain policeman, who was shot to death by unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants near an elementary school in Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City on Saturday, January 25.
The victim was identified as Senior Police Officer (SPO) 4 Oscar Exaltado, 46, of Magsungay. He was the deputy chief of Police Station 6.
According to a 37-year-old female witness, two men alighted from a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and rode two motorcycles driven by unidentified drivers.
Chief Inspector Charles Gever, head of Police Station 8, said the victim, who was riding a motorcycle, was on his way to work at 7:30 a.m.
The two assailants alighted from the SUV parked in front of a school then rode in two motorcycles. They tailed the victim and fired at him.
Exaltado fell on the ground but the gunmen reportedly shot him again several times and then fled.
He was shot at close range, Gever said.
He succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body.
Gever said there were reports that the victim’s service firearm was also used by the assailants in killing him, but the police have yet to verify it.
Exaltado was subjected to a paraffin test to determine if he was able to use his firearm.
Police recovered from the scene several slugs and fired bullets of unknown firearms.
Exaltado’s service firearm was missing.
Gever said they are eyeing more than four gunmen behind the killing.
It could be that he was really monitored before the crime was committed, he added.
Police are checking if there are closed-circuit television cameras installed near the area that can help them identify the perpetrators.
‘Well-planned’
For his part, Senior Superintendent Henry Biñas, officer-in-charge of BCPO, said the execution of the crime showed that it was “well-planned.”
Biñas said they have no specific motive yet on the incident.
“We are exploring all possible angles, whether it can be drug-related or work-related, or even more personal,” he added.
“There are derogatory reports about him (Exaltado) on illegal drugs but we're still validating it,” Biñas said.
Biñas said they are also checking if the victim has been assigned as an operative of the City Drug Enforcement Unit because it may also have something to do with the operations he conducted against illegal drugs.
Biñas said they are also looking on his work as warrant server.
There might be somebody who has a grudge on him, he added.
Biñas said police will also check the messages on the victim’s cellular phone in case they can find any significant evidence that could help them solve the case.
For his part, Senior Inspector Elmer Bonilla, head of Police Station 6, who also responded to the shooting incident, said he was supposed to call Exaltado on that day for his duty.
But he was surprised when he received an order directing all police checkpoints to be alert for pursuit operations due to a shooting incident victimizing his deputy chief.
Bonilla had been working with Exaltado for more than a month when he assumed as the station commander in December 2018.
Meanwhile, village chief Rosinie Distrito, who was also saddened about the incident, believed that the assailants are not from the village.
“Damu na diri bi lutsan sa amon, and siguro monitored na iya giho,” he added.
Probe
Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, director of Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas, ordered the conduct of a thorough investigation on the incident to ensure the immediate arrest of the gunmen.
“We condemned the killing of SPO4 Oscar Exaltado,” he said.
“We extend our sympathy to the family of SPO4 Exaltado and we will ensure that all possible assistance and benefit due him and his family be given,” he added.
Bulalacao assured the bereaved family and relatives of Exaltado that “we will ensure that justice will be served in the soonest time possible.”