Police Officer 1 Noriel Luage, the rookie policeman who earned a medal for the arrest of Cebu City’s most wanted fugitive but got slain when trying to arrest another later in the day, was laid to rest with full honors yesterday noon at the Labangon Municipal Cemetery.
Luage’s batchmates of the Bigkis Class were the pallbearers in the funeral that was attended by thousands of people including his family, friends and colleagues in the police force.
A 21-gun-salute honoring Luage highlighted the burial ceremony, which came after the Requiem Mass at the Birhen delos Remedios Parish Church were family and friends took turns in giving testimonials and goodbyes to the man they remembered as a silent hardworking policeman.
City police director, Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, shortly after Luage was buried, handed over to Luage’s widow, Rahama, the national flag that had been draped over the coffin.
Luage’s son was overheard calling his father while the coffin was being placed on the grave, then a male relative shouted, over sobs and wailings, on top of his voice: “Noriel proud kaayo mi nimo.”
Luage was among the rookie policemen who received several commendations and medals for exemplary services as police officers. One of those that he, and 13 others, received lately was the Medalya ng Kagalingan from Police Regional Office-7 director, Chief Supt. Ronal Roderos.
Roderos awarded the medals in recognition of the policemen’s successful arrest of the city most wanted, Aristotle “Ares” Aves, who has a P300,000 reward for his capture for a string of murder cases that he was allegedly involved with.
Luage was with the arresting team, led by Supt. Pablo Labra and Sr. Insp. George Ylanan, that caught Aves and his companion Jesus Singson Jr. from inside an Ormoc City-bound ferryboat, docked at Pier 8 in Mandaue City last December 3.
Last December 10 (Monday) was a proud day for the 13 policemen, Luage included, who received their medals for the Aves arrest. Seven hours after, however, Luage was killed while serving a search warrant against Ramon Jaime “Boy” Baclohan, a suspected coddler of hired guns, at the latter’s house in barangay Zapatera.
Baclohan shot Luage in the face killing him instantly. Luage’s backup, SPO2 Delfin Bontuyan of the CIDG-7, retaliated by gunning down Baclohan.
The search of Baclohan’s house was supposedly a follow-up of Aves’ arrest. Joint teams of CIDG-7, led by Chief Insp. Jason Capoy, and the CIIB, led by Ylanan, conducted a series of follow-up operations over reports about sources of guns and guns-for-hire.
Baclohan’s house was among those set for police search because he was tagged as a “broker” and provider of guns for hired killers in metropolitan Cebu. The warrant that Luage served was intended to recover possible evidences that might help solve some murders in the past.
Aves, Singson, and another Alpha Kappa Rho member Jose Mari Temblon, who was also arrested lately in Mandaue City, were among the suspected guns-for-hire under the aegis of Baclohan’s group.
Baclohan’s family, Aves, and Temblon denied these allegations. — Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE