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[av_heading heading=’Another ‘pusher’ killed in police anti-drug drive ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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ILOILO City – A drug pushing suspect was shot dead in Barangay Cabugao Norte, Pavia, Iloilo.
The 39-year-old Jelly Talabon of Barangay Tacas, Jaro district resisted arrest on Sunday night, according to Chief Inspector Jonathan Pinuela, intelligence chief of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
Talabon died of two gunshot wounds on the chest seconds after selling a gram of shabu to Pinuela for P10,000.
The buy-bust operation was carried out around 8:15 p.m.
According to Pinuela, he personally gave the buy-bust money to Talabon and when he was about to handcuff the suspect, the latter stepped back, pulled out a .38 revolver and pulled the trigger.
Pinuela said he was lucky the suspect’s gun malfunctioned. He quickly pulled out his own gun and fired twice at Talabon.
“Had Talabon’s gun went off, I may have been hurt or killed. Perhaps it wasn’t my time to die yet,” Pinuela told Panay News.
Recovered from the suspect’s possession were 11 sachets of shabu including the buy-bust item and the .38 revolver.
Talabon, who had illegal drug and homicide cases in court, was in IPPO’s drug watch list, said Pinuela.
“He turned himself in to the police last year and since then, we kept an eye on him,” according to the police officer.
Talabon was the third drug suspect to die in three days. On Aug. 11, Hernan Calfoforo, 32, of Barangay Tabuc Suba, Jaro district and Fidel Natabio, 18, of Molo district were shot dead by policemen in an antidrug operation in Barangay Centro Poblacion, Culasi, Antique.
The two were linked to suspected drug lord Richard “Buang” Prevendido.
According to Senior Inspector Marc Dado, Culasi police chief, the suspects were armed with revolvers and shot the police officers out to arrest them.
On Monday, a day after Talabon was killed, Philippine National Police’s Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa called for more drug arrests.
A total of 1,915 drug personalities have been arrested in Western Visayas since July last year after Oplan Double Barrel, the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, was launched. But Dela Rosa is not impressed.
“Mababa ang drug personalities n’yo na nag-surrender or nahuli. Dagdagan nyo pa,” he told Western Visayas policemen during a program marking the 116th Police Service Anniversary in Camp Delgado.
From July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017, 20,598 drug personalities surrendered to police stations across the region, PRO-6 data showed.
The surrenders were a result of 430,424 house visitations that the police conducted in a bid to convince these drug personalities to change their ways.
“Step up. We have a lot to do. Double-time,” said Dela Rosa.
In the 1,354 antidrug operations of the PRO-6 since July last year, 1,915 drug suspects were arrested and of these, 150 were considered high-value targets.
The operations also resulted to the death of 31 drug suspects. These casualties resisted arrested, according to the PRO-6.
Dela Rosa told Western Visayas policemen not to be afraid of drug lords and criminals. He also urged local officials to help the police./PN
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