PNP official hurt in ambush in Quezon City

2nd  cop ambushed in 2 days

MANILA, Philippines — An official assigned to the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was seriously wounded in an ambush near his home in Quezon City on Thursday night.

Superintendent Edgardo Cariaso, 50, was attacked near a supermarket along Kaliraya street in Barangay Tatalon at around 7:35 p.m., the second ambush of a policeman in two consecutive days. 

Probers said Cariaso was talking to a neighbor when a lone assailant approached the victim and shot him at least four times. 

Cariaso fell to the ground while the gunman fled on foot towards G. Araneta Avenue.

Chief Inspector Elmer Monsalve, who heads the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU), said the assailant then sped away on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. 

The victim was rushed to the Delos Santos Hospital for medical treatment.

Police said the victim sustained gunshot wounds in his right ear. The bullets  exited through his left cheek. 

Recovered at the crime scene were three .45 caliber bullet casings and two .45 caliber bullets.

Drug link

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said in an interview with dzMM that there was information linking Cariaso to the drug trade.

“He is a former member of the NPD (Northern Police District) and apparently there seems to be information that he was involved in illegal drugs,” he said. 

On Wednesday night, Police Officer 3 Rufino Gabis, 47, was at a stoplight along Kalayaan Avenue in Barangay Malaya when two men on a motorcycle attacked him at around 8 p.m., probers said.

Gabis was under investigation for alleged links to the illegal drug trade and was relieved from his post at the Kamuning police station months ago following “reports of impropriety.”

Recovered inside his car were P300,000 in cash, a Colt 1911 handgun and Colt 80 handgun – bearing the same serial numbers – and 72 bullets of various calibers.

Both cases are under investigation by the QCPD-CIDU.