Significant 50 arrests in 48 hours rocked the province as the Bohol Police Provincial Office launched One Time-Big Time anti-criminality campaign commencing on the 50th birthday of the provincial director on Thursday last week.
Police teams raided the hideouts of alleged syndicated criminal gangs and wanted criminals, and tracked down loose firearms on November 5 and 6.
Police Provincial Director Dennis Agustin said that the one time-big time operations were part of the Oplan Lambat-Sibat campaign of the Philippine National Police after the national office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) that commenced in the middle of 2014.
In just two days, police units in the municipalities and the city were able to execute 26 search warrants, nabbed 53 personalities, and recovered two high-powered firearms, and seized 355 grams of shabu with estimated value of P200,000—excluding the several packs confiscated from an alleged big-time drug runner in the city still to be estimated as to its actual volume, roughly valued at almost P1 million.
The police teams also neutralized a known gun-for-hire operating in the second district and nearby provinces, identified as one Corsino Bautista, married, presently residing at sitio Ticon in Barangay Magkaya in Buenavista.
Bautista had been tagged in shooting incidents in Buenavista. Among his victims were the son of the barangay captain of Cawag, chief tanod of Barangay Bago, Gerson Tradio, a habal-habal in Barangay Bago; and recently, the killing of the barangay captain of Anonang.
Bautista had a standing warrant of arrest for murder without bail recommended issued by Judge Jorge Cabalit of the Regional Trial Court Branch 48 in Tagbilaran City.
Intelligence reports also had it that he had been hired by some politicians tagged as protectors of the illegal drugs trade.
PSupt. Ricky Delelis, chief of the operations branch of BPPO, however, clarified during the press conference last Friday that not all politicians are involved in protecting the illegal drugs trade.
As of now, the police need to withhold the identities of the concerned politicians, he said.
At around 5 a.m. on November 5, two teams from Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC), led by PO3 Richard Timbal and PO2 Jose Felicisimo Rebosura and under the supervision of PSupt. Nicomedes Olaivar Jr., conducted a preventive security patrol in barangay Magkaya, Buenavista when they received an information that a certain Corsino Bautista was spotted carrying his M16 rifle and other unidentified firearms of unknown caliber.
The teams immediately proceeded to sitio Ticon in Barangay Magkaya to verify the report.
Upon arriving the area at around 6:15 a.m., the PPSC teams saw a man standing beside the house, carrying an M16 rifle, prompting Rebosura to order the man to surrender himself along with his firearm.
However, the man who later turned out to be Bautista, suddenly opened fire towards the PPSC personnel, prompting the latter to engage in an exchange of fire.
The police teams hit Bautista in different parts of his body, resulting to his death.
Bautista, 32, married, was allegedly a well-known gun-for-hire involved the series of killings in the second district and nearby provinces.
The Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), led by PInsp. Jovanie Abregana, arrived at around 11 a.m. and recovered an M16 rifle loaded with one unfired cartridge, a steel short magazine loaded with three unfired cartridges, a steel short magazine loaded with nine ammunitions, an improvised shotgun loaded with one 12-gauge ammo, a 12-gauge ammo, and five fired cartridges of M16 rifle from the scene.
It turned out that Bautista had a standing warrant of arrest for murder with no bail recommended issued by Judge Jorge Cabalit of the Regional Trial Court Branch 48 of Tagbilaran City.
In the series of anti-illegal drugs operations, the police teams marked the biggest haul in the city with the arrest of alleged armed drug personalities during a buy-bust operation and a raid at around 9:20 p.m. on November 5 at M. Torralba St. Extension, Purok II of Poblacion III, this city.
The City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (CAIDSOTG), led by city chief of police, PSupt. George Vale, in coordination with Agent Ma. Chona Egam of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), conducted a buy-bust operation against an Indian national, identified as one Gurpreet Singh, in the vicinity of the residence of two other alleged drug personalities—brothers, Erad and Eric Dalmao—at M. Torralba Extension.
Singh yielded two heat-sealed sachets containing shabu, the ones he handed to the poseur-buyer in exchange of 1,000-peso bill used as marked money; and an opened pack containing several empty sachets.
Singh is also known as “Turkoâ€, 20 years old, single and was reportedly residing in Tanawan, Tubigon. There is also a record that he is a resident of at Poblacion, Jagna.
After the buy-bust, the CAIDSOTG—composed of SPO4 Yolando Bagotchay Jr., PO2 Ignacio Inojales, PO2 Richie Lovete, PO2 Gary Labial, PO1 Bart Paredes, PO1 Ray Neil Bibat, and Maris Aldrin Gabuya—raided the residence of the Dalmao brothers, based on search warrant issued by Judge Suceso Arcamo of RTC Branch 47 of Tagbilaran City.
Erad Dalmao, 43, married and a jeweler, was arrested after the CAIDSOTG recovered one large opened transparent cellophane containing shabu granules labeled with “Shalillâ€, one medium-size heat-sealed sachet of shabu, four small sachets of shabu, three more sachets of shabu, several drug paraphernalia and four units of weighing scale, one casing containing several pieces of cellophane sachets, an electric sealer from their residence.
His brother, Eric Dalmao, who was yet in the vicinity during the raid, managed to elude arrest.
The police team also arrested his other brother, Abel Dalmao, during an incidental lawful arrest, after being found in possession of an improvised short fire arm with serial number, two packs of shabu, ten big sachets of shabu, 20 other sachets of shabu, a weighing scale, and an eyeglasses case containing several sachets.
Abel, 36 years old and married, is jobless.