ILOILO City – A covert policeman was shot to death by a suspected drug pusher in a buy-bust operation that went awry.
The 32-year-old Police Corporal Felfranz Lumahang of Barangay Batuan, Oton succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds while being treated at the Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital in Molo district.
Lumahang, 32, was posing as a buyer of illegal drugs during an entrapment operation in Barangay Abilay, Oton, Iloilo when he was gunned down around 3:20 p.m. on Nov. 28.
Colonel Gilbert Gorero, Iloilo provincial police director, said when the suspect sensed he was transacting with the police, he peppered the latter with bullets.
The gunman fled onboard a motorcycle of a companion who served as lookout.
According to Gorero, Lumahang was in his seventh year of service in the police force. He was a member of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s Drug Enforcement Unit.
Two hours prior the shooting, Lumahang along with officers of the Mandurriao police station staged a buy-bust operation against Mary Lee Zaragoza of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao. They confiscated 12 sachets of shabu valued at around P80,000.
The police bought P19,500 worth of shabu from Zaragoza and she was brought to police station for interrogation.
“After the interrogation, Lumahang conducted a follow-up operation in Oton where he was shot,” Gorero said.
In a statement, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO- 6) condoled with the family of Lumahang.
“Corporal Lumahang, who dedicated his life to serve the Ilonggos, will never be forgotten. The men and women of PRO-6 will forever be grateful for the courage he showed and for his devotion to police service,” said Director Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan.
PRO-6 will assist in the processing of all the claims and assistance that the government could extend to the family of Lumahang.
Pamuspusan ordered the IPPO to identify the suspects and file appropriate charges against them.
“The death of Corporal Lumahang will not be put to waste. Our pursuit to hunt down drug personalities will continue to achieve a drug-free Western Visayas,” Pamuspusan added./PN
