Cop in Decena ambush probed

MANILA, Philippines - Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel yesterday ordered an investigation of a Marikina policeman believed to be one of the gunmen in the attack on businesswoman Christina Decena in Quezon City last week.

Heads will roll if it is proved that Police Officer 1 Melvin Waga was on duty at the time of the shooting of Decena, Laurel said.

“I received reports that Waga has been suspended. Once it is proved that he was on duty, his superiors would be made to answer for negligence,” Laurel said in an interview.

Earlier, the National Bureau of Investigation charged Waga and dismissed policeman Henry Quiñones with two counts of attempted murder and frustrated murder before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office.

Decena, her son Dan, 22, and their housemaid Helen Felesco were riding in a Hyundai van along Banawe street in Quezon City when two motorcycle-riding suspects shot them.

Decena said the gunmen missed her because they focused on the middle portion of the van.

She and her son were unhurt in the ambush. Felesco, on the other hand, suffered a head wound when shards from the shattered windows hit her.

The suspects escaped on foot after Dan rammed their motorcycle with their vehicle.

According to Laurel, Waga’s superior called him up and ordered him to report for work. But the policeman claimed he was resting due to a swollen foot.

Waga was nowhere to be found when EPD policemen visited his house in Pasig.

Laurel said the policeman’s cell phone could not be contacted a day after Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Isagani Genabe named him as one of the suspects in Decena’s failed ambush.

Police said Waga went into hiding in Gumaca town, Quezon.