NPD sets up 24-hour checkpoints in Camanava

MANILA, Philippines - Northern Police District director Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. yesterday directed the District Mobile Force to put up a 24-hour checkpoint in strategic areas in Caloocan City following the shooting of a barangay executive officer last Wednesday.

Barangay 79 executive officer Ramon Mirana Jr., 34, who also serves as a close-in bodyguard of barangay chairman Emmanuel Cruz, was fired upon by at least eight armed men aboard two vehicles in front of the Caloocan City Land Transportation Office compound at around 9:45 a.m.

Mirana and his companion, Anthony Esteves, 32, were hit. Mirana remains in critical condition at the Our Lady of Fatima Hospital as of yesterday.

Unidentified attackers also strafed Cruz’s house on April 15 and 16. On April 14, his pick-up truck was reportedly torched while parked in front of his house.

Superintendent Florendo Quibuyen, acting Caloocan City police chief, said the slay attempt on Mirana has nothing to do with Cruz’s case but refused to elaborate.