PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Two police assets were believed to have been killed Friday morning by members of the communist-terrorist group New People’s Army (NPA) in a remote village in southern Palawan.
Senior Superintendent Gabriel Lopez, director of the Palawan Provincial Police Office (PPO), identified the victims as as Bobby Llamansares, 40, resident of Puerto Princesa, and Lory Lozada Castor, 61, resident of Sofronio Española.
He said residents discovered their bodies in a remote site in Barangay Pulot Interior, Sofronio Española. Residents said they heard gunshots around 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m.
“Around 8 a.m., a barangay official in Pulot Interior reported that two people were shot in their place. The barangay official said they heard gunshots and later found the two dead. Later we found out that they were, in fact, police assets who went up to the area because they’re convincing a relative who is a member of the NPA to voluntarily surrender,” Lopez said.
He said Llamansares and Castor had been responsible for helping them in the surrender of three NPA dissidents, also residents of Sofronio Española, in December 2017.
“They’re a big help to us in our rebel returnee program. Unfortunately, this sad incident happened. The angle that our investigators are following was that they were in Pulot Interior because they were facilitating the voluntary surrender of a relative of one of them,” Lopez added.
“It appears that they were bluffed into believing that this relative will surrender,” Lopez said.
A team of police investigators had been sent to the area with forensics personnel from Scene of Crime Operation to look into the killing of the two.
A police manhunt has been launched against the suspects. (PNA)
