Missing cop slain in Tondo?

MANILA, Philippines - A police officer who went missing on Saturday was allegedly killed and his body stuffed in a sack in Isla Puting Bato in Tondo, Manila over the weekend.

The Manila Police District’s homicide section, however, still considers Senior Police Officer 2 Teofilo Panlilio missing and his case under the MPD-General Assignment Section’s missing persons unit because his body has yet to be found.

Panlilio was assigned at the MPD’s District Headquarters Support Unit (DHSU) and had been manning the police headquarters’ United Nations Avenue gate. He failed to come home after work on Saturday, according to his wife Adelaida.

However, an anonymous caller told the MPD before dawn Sunday that the body of a man who had been shot in the nape was found in Isla Puting Bato. The caller said the man was in police uniform, with the surname Panlilio on the nameplate.

There are no records of the find with the MPD’s Public Information Office, but a PIO employee told The STAR that another police officer who was on field sent her a text message that confirmed Panlilio was indeed placed in a sack.

The missing police officer was formerly connected with Station 4 and reportedly transferred to the DHSU because he had a pending case. A check with the Pre-Charge Evaluation Services (PCES), which keeps records of police personnel with administrative cases, confirmed that Panlilio had been charged for being absent without official leave and had not received his salary since last year.

Senior Police Officer 4 Noel Jesus of PCES said Panlilio was still processing his papers to restore his benefits.

According to reports, Panlilio went to Isla Puting Bato after work Saturday to visit his mistress. One of his colleagues at the DHSU told The STAR they received reports that Panlilio was shot in the company of his mistress, but MPD homicide investigators did not confirm the reports.

“Unless we have found the body, the case would still be under GAS,” said homicide section chief Senior Inspector Joey de Ocampo.

The STAR tried to contact Panlilio’s wife yesterday but she refused to talk.