ILOILO CITY – A man who went on a rampage died after a scuffle with members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Sta. Barbara town, Iloilo province.
Sta. Barbara PNP identified the man as Joel Simpao, a 41-year-old resident of Bagumbayan village who was believed to have been suffering from a nervous breakdown.
Major Raymond Celoso, Sta. Barbara PNP chief, told Manila Bulletin that the police only responded when Simpao’s sister personally went to the police station late afternoon of June 7 to seek help as his brother had a bolo and knife.
Celoso initially sent a team to the Simpao household to try negotiate with the victim, but the police chief would later go there himself and led the negotiation.
“We wanted him to put down his weapons, but he wouldn’t,” Celoso recounted.
When a bamboo ladder was used to try to stop Simpao, the latter tried to attack the town police chief who fell to the ground.
Master Sergeant Richard Jamoyot from the SWAT of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) shot Simpao at the right side of his body. Simpao then fell to the ground, but hit his head with the bolo he was holding.
Simpao was taken to a hospital in Iloilo City, but died past midnight of June 8.