Cop in Pasay bloodbath surrenders

The policeman who figured in a shooting incident in Pasay City last Dec. 30 surrendered late yesterday afternoon to Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco.

According to Police Officer 2 Jose "Joey" Salazar, neighborhood gossip triggered the incident that left three people dead and two others seriously injured, including a traffic police officer.

Salazar arrived at The STAR office at around 4 p.m. yesterday before proceeding to Velasco’s office in Quezon City. His nephew and primary suspect, Borbie Rivera Salazar, remains at large.

He was accompanied by his former superiors in Pasay City, Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca, now chief of the Western Police District (WPD) Intelligence Division, and Superintendent Edgar Alintog.

Salazar also turned over to Llorca the .9 mm CZ pistol owned by Rivera, tagged as the primary suspect in the killing of Catalino Bautista, Anthony Petilla, and Joselito Manlangit.

PO2 Bernard Cubero, of the Western Traffic Enforcement Group (WTEG), and Petilla’s mother, Antonieta, were seriously injured in the shooting rampage.

Salazar is expected to be handed over to the Pasay police which has custodial responsibility over him, city police chief Superin Oscar Catalan said yesterday afternoon. Catalan added that it is up to Salazar to explain his whereabouts since Dec. 30.

"If he says he went looking for his nephew, so be it. But we also have the statements of the witnesses," Catalan said.

The Pasay police filed yesterday three counts of murder and two counts of frustrated murder against Salazar and Rivera at the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office.

Days before his surrender, Salazar told The STAR that he was looking for his nephew and not hiding from authorities.

"Gen. Velasco was well-informed about my activities through The STAR and that is, I was looking for Borbie," said Salazar, who belongs to the Regional Service Support Group (RSSG) of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO). He claimed to be hopping from one place to another to hunt down his nephew.

Salazar also said that a shootout ensued between his nephew and Petilla’s group, but added that he did not fire at the victims. However, police investigators said that a witness saw Salazar fire his gun.

Salazar said he believes that his nephew was set up by Petilla’s group, which was out to get back at Rivera for threatening one of their friends last Dec. 26.

According to Salazar, Rivera was incensed at the Petillas who were said to have informed his estranged wife of his whereabouts and that of his new girlfriend.