Hortezuela is laid to rest

Senior Inspector Raymond Hortezuela, who was killed in a police-led anti-drug operation, was finally laid to rest on Saturday afternoon.

The family, relatives and friends of the officer all wore white shirts printed with his image and the words “Justice for Sr./Insp. Raymond Hortezuela” to protest claim of police authorities in Central Visayas that the slain police officer was involved in the illegal drugs trade.

Hortezuela’s remains were brought to St. Joseph Shrine in Mandaue City at 10 a.m. following a funeral march participated by members of his immediate family, relatives, friends and neighbors. The funeral Mass was held at 11 a.m. was also attended by some of Hortezuela’s batchmates in the Philippine National Police Non-Commissioned Office (PNCO) Class of 2006.

Senior Inspector William Aguirre, a batchmate of Hortezuela who is assigned in Aklan, was teary eyed recalling their moments with Hortezuela.

“Hindi ako makapaniwala kung ginawa man niya yon, dahil sa buong batch namin siya ang pinakamabait, dedicated sa trabaho, medyo silent type pero marunong makisama,” said Aguirre.

(I can’t believe it if he was indeed into it, because of all our batch members, he was the kindest, dedicated to his job, was the silent type but got along well with others).

He said that regardless of the allegations raised against Hortezuela, he decided to come in his personal capacity to condole with Hortezuela’s family and pay his last respects to a good friend.

“Let whatever the results of the investigation be, and we hope he deserves the justice his family and us wanted to attain,” added Aguirre.

Aside from him, Aguirre said there were two other police officials from their batch who attended the funeral.

Hortezuela’s father Wilfredo was firm that they would seek the help of the Commission on Human Rights and the National Bureau of Investigation in the hope of attaining justice for his son’s death.

Hortezuela’s remains were later brought to his final resting place at the Manila Memorial Gardens in Liloan town.

There was no flag was placed on his coffin or was he given funeral honors and ceremony usually accorded to men in uniform.

His batchmates who attended his burial also came in civilian attire. No official from Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO 7) attended the funeral, as well.

Wilfredo said they were disappointed by the police’s statements swiftly judging his son as bad cop without even giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Hortezuela graduated high school at Mandaue City Comprehensive National High School and graduated college at University of Cebu in 2006. He was among the “Pinagbuklod” batch of PNPA in 2012.

He had been assigned to the Canduman Police Station in Mandaue City, the Punta Princesa Police in Cebu City, Tourist Police Unit in Cebu City, Guadalupe Police Station in Cebu City, and was assigned last May to Sibulan, Negros Oriental.

Hortezuela was killed in a buy-bust operation at 7:45 p.m. last June 11 in P. Basubas St. Barangay Tipolo, Mandaue city.

Chief Inspector Mercy Villaro, information officer of the Mandaue City Police Office, revealed that based on the initial investigation conducted by Subagdaku Police Station, the buy-bust operation was initiated against Hortezuela, who was also a target of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA 7).

The Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF) Special Group Visayas led Chief Inspector Jonathan P. Lladoc, the Mandaue City Drug Enforcement Unit and the Regional Intelligence Division in Central Visayas (RID 7) conducted a buy bust operation against Hortezuela.

During the operation, Hortezuela allegedly resisted arrest and drew a pistol, which prompted the CITF operatives to defend themselves and shot the subject.

Hortezuela was also one of the targets of PDEA 7 after he was tagged as an alleged protector of the slain drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz.

The scene of the crime operatives (Soco) team recovered on the crime scene seven pieces of empty shell of cal. 45 pistol, while found at the driver’s seat of Hortezuela’s car were one transparent plastic containing 75 pieces of small triangular transparent plastic packets containing white crystalline substance believed to be shabu (crystal meth), one .45 cal pistol (Colt) with SN 5859918 and magazine loaded with one .45 live ammunition, and two pieces of P1,000 bills. A .45 caliber pistol with five bullets was found on the vehicle’s arm rest.

A sling bag was also found on the passenger side of car that contained a 9mm gloc pistol with magazine loaded with (15) live ammunition, P68,830 in cash, a black cellphone, one other cellphone (onet), Hortezuela’s police identification card, driver’s license and several ATM cards, among others.

On the backseat of the car, the police recovered two backpacks containing assorted clothes, a laptop bag containing personal documents, one traveling bag containing assorted clothes, one component speaker with complete accessories and a pair of shoes.