By JOEY NACALABAN
and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents .
JUST like the others, another slain drug suspect, a lowly carpenter, was allegedly armed with a caliber .38 revolver, had a few sachets of suspected shabu and only a few hundred pesos, and no one could validate the police’s claims that he fought back.
The dead man, 45-year-old Arnel Saguing, was killed in an alleged buy-and-bust operation in El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental over the weekend.
Hours before Saguing’s killing, residents found a man wearing the “Iskolar ng Bambi” t-shirt murdered in the same city. The victim was shot dead and his neck was wrapped with duct tape.
Police claimed they had to shoot Saguing after the suspect fired two shots at officers during an undercover operation at Zone 3, Tuburan, Poblacion in El Salvador, at around 10:45 pm on Friday.
El Salvador police director Supt. Randy Anito said Saguing a.k.a. Arsag was a carpenter who allegedly peddled illegal drugs, an accusation the dead man’s relatives and a friend brushed aside.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal, a friend of Saguing’s said the suspect was a known drunkard but was never a drug user or peddler.
He also said Saguing had no gun because he cannot afford to have one, and was not the type who knew how to use a firearm.
“Dugay naman mi gauban adto. Wala gyud ko kakita naa toy armas ug sure gyud ko di to kahibalo mugamit og pusil,” he said.
Saguing’s relatives are reportedly contemplating on pressing charges against the officers who took part in the operation.
Police however alleged that a buy-and-bust operation was taking place when Saguing, who was inside his house with his son, sensed that he was transacting with the police and so, he drew a tucked revolver from his waist and fired at the officers twice but missed.
Senior Insp. Allan Anyasco, deputy chief of the El Salvador police, said the officers shot back and killed Saguing with two bullets.
Anyasco said Saguing was rushed to a clinic in El Salvador where he was declared dead.
Authorities claimed to have taken from Saguing a caliber .38 caliber revolver, three sachets of suspected shabu, four P100 bills that alleged served as buy-and-bust money, and a few coins.
Hours earlier, villagers stumbled on the body of a young man who was apparently a victim of an extra-judicial killing in the same city.
PO1 Miguel Galagnara III said the still unidentified victim was aged between 20 and 30 years, sported relatively long hair, and wore a violet t-shirt with the markings “Iskolar ni Bambi.”
The victim’s neck was wrapped with duct tape.
Police said an investigation is ongoing at presstime.
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