Cop, 2 others tagged in heist shot dead

MANILA, Philippines - A policeman and two others suspected of robbing a security agency were killed in an alleged shootout with police officers from the Southern Police District (SPD) in Parañaque City Saturday night.

Authorities identified the slain suspects as Police Officer 3 Ulpiano Bullido Jr., assigned to the Police Security Protection Group at Camp Crame; Melvin Nabilgas of Parañaque; and Rowel Masudog of Tanza, Cavite.

Senior Superintendent Federico Castro Jr., SPD deputy director for operations, said the three were among the five robbers who broke into the Praise Security and Investigation Agency at the Fourth Estate subdivision in Barangay San Antonio about 8:45 p.m.

Castro said a fourth suspect, Martin Ty, is in police custody, while the fifth man was able to escape.

SPD spokesperson Chief Inspector Jenny Tecson said that about 4 p.m. Saturday, the district received a tip that a “suspicious” blue Nissan Sentra (TRM-897) and men on two motorcycles were “roaming around” the subdivision, prompting Superintendent Allen Ocden, chief of the SPD intelligence division, to dispatch policemen to verify the information.

According to Tecson, while Ocden’s men scoured the area, they heard shouting from a security agency office owned by a certain Willy Santa Romana at around 8 p.m..

The police gave chase until one of the suspects allegedly shot at the lawmen, triggering a shootout.

Tecson said Masudog and Nabilgas died on the spot, while Bullido expired at the Paranaque Medical Center. Ty tried to flee and was arrested “in a grassy portion” of the subdivision.

Recovered from them were more than P80,000, 14 .38 caliber handguns stolen from the agency, and several cell phones. The SPD also confiscated the suspects’ firearms – a .38 caliber revolver, a .22 Magnum revolver, and a .45 caliber handgun.

The slain suspects’ remains were transferred to the Loreto Funeral Homes in Taguig City, Tecson said.