Ex-cop in shooting spree caught in Crame

MANILA, Philippines - A dismissed policeman, tagged in a drunken shooting spree in Pasay City on Thursday, was not immediately recognized as a fugitive when he was accosted for carrying a gun as he tried to enter Camp Crame on Friday.

But right after former Police Officer 1 Rupert Baluyot, 41, underwent inquest proceedings on Friday night for carrying an unlicensed gun, he was recognized as the suspect in the Pasay murder.

The gun he was carrying on Friday is believed to be the same gun used in the killing in Pasay. Baluyot now faces a complaint for illegal possession of firearms and for murder.

Baluyot, who was once assigned with the Regional Headquarters Support Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Region 4-A, was dismissed from the service in October 2005. It was not immediately clear what caused his dismissal.

The suspect, residing in Barangay Bahay Toro, was accosted by policemen in Camp Crame after he was seen carrying his .45 caliber Armscor gun as he was about to enter the gate of the PNP headquarters along Boni Serrano Avenue at around 7 a.m., said Superintendent Ramon Pranada, commander of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 7.

The former policeman did not have with him at that time any papers for the handgun, prompting the ones who accosted him to bring him to Station 7 in Cubao. When he could not produce the papers the entire day, policemen had him undergo inquest proceedings for illegal possession of a firearm, Pranada said.

When Baluyot and the police officers who arrested him arrived at the police station following the inquest, a news team from TV5 was there and thought the suspect looked familiar. “The TV crew told us they had covered an incident in Pasay, prompting us to contact our counterparts there,” Pranada said in an interview.

According to Pranada, Baluyot was in a drinking session with residents of a depressed community in Pasay Thursday. “Without any provocation, he (suspect) suddenly opened fire,” Pranada said.

The bullets went through the wall of an adjacent house and hit a resident. As the victim fell, those drinking with the gunman scampered, but one of them told the police about the identity of the suspect.

When policemen from Pasay went to the QCPD Station 7, they identified Baluyot as the suspect in the Pasay shooting spree.

Pranada said he would have the gun Baluyot was carrying subjected to a ballistics exam because he believes it was the same gun used in the Pasay City killing.

Pasay policemen recovered three .45 caliber slugs from the crime scene. When Baluyot was arrested, his gun – a standard .45 caliber pistol has eight bullets – only had five bullets, Pranada said.