Tagum City hostage-taker gunned down

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – What was supposedly a plain robbery in a restaurant in Tagum City, Davao del Norte turned into a hostage drama Thursday night. 

The robbery at Makulay restaurant along Pioneer Street was going on when policemen happened to pass by the vicinity. The cops responded, forcing the robber to take two people hostage, according to Senior Superintendent Samuel Gadingan, Davao del Norte police director.

A standoff ensued and Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon immediately formed a crisis management committee to address the situation.

“We exhausted the negotiations. For five or six times we tried hard to let him surrender because we wanted him alive and that we also wanted to know his problem so we could help. We also wanted to know if he was also involved in past robbery cases in Tagum City, but to no avail,” Rellon said.

Since there were no indications that the suspect would give himself up, the crisis management committee decided to launch an assault.

“He had no intention to surrender and that was why we had no recourse but to attack after we were able to secure the two hostages,” Gadingan said.

Police staged the assault at 12:55 a.m. yesterday, resulting in the death of the suspect who remained unidentified as of press time. A certain PO3 Campomanes was wounded in the incident.