QCPD task force head slain

MANILA, Philippines - A police officer who headed a task force to clear Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City was killed in an ambush yesterday.

Senior Police Officer 4 Edward Roque Torio, 47, died on the spot after four men on two motorcycles shot him with .45 caliber pistols, said Inspector Elmer Monsalve, head of the homicide investigation section of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

Torio was officer-in-charge of the QCPD’s Task Force Commonwealth, which had been involved in clearing Commonwealth Avenue of vendors and traffic obstructions.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano said investigators are considering the possibility that the killing may have been work-related.