CEBU CITY—A policeman, who was implicated in the illegal drug trade, survived an ambush in Lapu-Lapu City.
Police Senior Master Sgt. Artemio Tumakay III was walking along a road in Barangay Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu when four men repeatedly shot him.
The incident happened around 9 a.m. last Monday.
The policeman was lucky enough to escape unhurt despite the number of shots fired.
Two persons who happened to be in the area during the attack were wounded after they were hit by stray bullets.
Police Capt. Percival Miasco, chief of the Marigondon Police Station, said responding police recovered at least 30 spent shells.
The assailants, who boarded a van during the attack, used a .45 caliber pistol, a 9mm pistol and M-16 Armalite rifle based on the recovered empty shells, said Miasco.
Police Brig. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro, chief of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO 7), said Tumakay was transferred from PRO 7 to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) when the Philippine National Police (PNP) implemented an internal cleansing campaign in 2016.
“I received some reports that this police officer was transferred to CAR because of issues about illegal drugs. I think he is listed in the watchlist of police involved in illegal drugs,” said Ferro.
Ferro said investigators will be looking into the policeman’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs as one of the possible motive of the attack.
Investigators will also try to find why Tumakay was in Lapu-Lapu when he was already assigned in CAR.