3 gunmen dead, cop hurt in South Cotabato encounter

COTABATO CITY — Three members of a private armed group were killed while a policeman was wounded in a clash in Barangay Palkan in Polomolok, South Cotabato on Tuesday.

Citing a report from the Polomolok Municipal Police Station, Brig. Gen. Percival Augustus Placer, director of the Police Regional Office-12, on Wednesday said that three gunmen, Ronnie Romano, Harold Pasaquian and Yokh Dajay, died in the clash.

Police forensic experts found two vintage M1 Carbine rifles and an M16 assault rifle close to the cadavers of Romano, Pasaquian and Dajay.

The brief exchange of gunfire between the armed group and combined personnel of the Polomolok MPS and members of the Special Action Force left Police Chief Master Sgt. Jonathan Boiser wounded.

The three slain gunmen reportedly belonged to a heavily-armed gang protecting a landowner involved in violent squabbles for control of arable lands in interior areas in Polomolok.

One of their companions, Nestor Espelon was arrested after the incident, according to Major Johnny Rick Medel, chief of the Polomolok MPS.

Four others, also armed with assault rifles, managed to escape after Romano, Pasaquian and Dajay were felled one after another by advancing policemen with their assault rifles.