5 cops implicated in salesman’s slay

Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. has ordered summary dismissal proceedings against five Tuguegarao City policemen implicated in the killing of a San Miguel Corp. salesman last July.

The five policemen are Chief Inspector Ernesto Achanzar, SPO2 David Guitering, PO2s Antonio Pagulayan and Hector Tubangui, and PO1 Raymund Basilio.

They have been disarmed and placed under restriction at Camp Adduru, the Cagayan Valley police headquarters.

Chief Superintendent Romulo Sales, Region 2 police director, said probers have pieced together evidence and testimonies linking the five lawmen to the killing of Gerardo Castillo, 29, whose body was found in Sitio Catengtengan, Barangay Ballacayu in San Pablo, Isabela last July 18.

Police said Castillo could have been killed because he refused to give money to the policemen. His wife said he was carrying at least P47,000 in cash the night he was murdered. — Christina Mendez