CEBU CITY – A wanted individual was killed in a shootout with police in Barangay Bayong, Balamban town, Cebu province on Tuesday morning, August 13.
POLICE arrest murder suspect Jovel Tribunalo Villegas (left) after a shootout in Balamban town, Cebu province on Tuesday morning, August 13. (Contributed photo)
Police identified the fatality as Paulino Tribunalo Cordezar.
Police Lt. Col. Julius Garcia, chief of the Balamban Police Station, said policemen arrived in the area to serve a warrant of arrest against Cordezar and his relative Jovel Tribunalo Villegas for murder.
Cordezar, who was in a tent, noticed their presence and fired at approaching lawmen with a KG9 submachine gun.
Lawmen returned fire and wounded Cordezar who was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead.
Garcia said the suspects were allegedly members of a gun-for-hire group and marijuana cultivators.
Villegas was arrested about 200 meters from the tent where Cordezar was hiding, police said.
Police said Villegas was wanted for two murder and one frustrated murder charges.
Seized from Villegas were a .45 caliber pistol, a homemade handgun, and at least one kilo of dried marijuana with an estimated value of P120,000.
The death of Cordezar and the arrest of Villegas may lead to the resolution of several gun-related violence, said Garcia.