PDEA MOURNS LOSS OF MULTI-AWARDED AGENT

THE MURDER OF EARL RALLOS

Baby Earl Rallos was in high spirit last Friday, just hours before the assassins’ bullet snuff out his life.

The 48-year-old deputy director for operations of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) just received a word from his superiors that he was going up the career ladder — having been promoted from agent one to agent three, which was just three steps away from the position of regional director.

“Malipayon kaayo siya sa balita nga iyang nadawat. Nagdali-dali man gani to siya og pauli (He was so happy about the news. He was raring to go home to celebrate with us),” a member of his family told reporters.

Rallos did not make it home.

The former radio broadcaster turned officer of PDEA-7 was shot to death by a still unidentified assailant while driving his car along Villalon Street in Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City, past 5 p.m. on Friday.

Although he was hit in the body, Rallos tried to escape and did manage to step out of his gray Toyota Altis car, only to be finished off by the gunman with a fatal shot in his head.

A motorcycle-for-hire driver who was nearby was hit by a stray bullet in his left cheek and was now in stable condition at the hospital.

Chief Insp. Ma. Theresa Macatangay, commander of the Fuente Police Station, said they were looking at illegal drugs and work-related issues as the possible motives behind the killing of Rallos.

“Being a drug enforcement officer of PDEA, it cannot be denied that there were people who got mad at him perhaps after they were arrested or maybe there were those who envied his accomplishments. Anything could be possible,” she said in an interview on Saturday.

But what really shocked investigators was the presence of three packs of suspected shabu inside Rallos’ car.

“I don’t want to make any conclusions, but we were really surprised to learn that packs of shabu were found inside his car. It was in his possession so to speak. And how do you call a person who transport illegal drugs? . . . a courier,” she said.

“Sakit man paminawon, pero mao ni ang angle nga angay nato nga tan-awon (Though painful, we need to look into this angle). Ultimately, our goal is to solve his mysterious death,” she added.

Items inside the car

The Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) of the Cebu City Police Office found three packs of crystalline powder believed to be shabu (meth) inside a brown envelope at the glove compartment of Rallos’ car, dollars and peso bills amounting to at least P20,000, an M14 rifle, 9-mm pistol, a caliber .45 pistol, and his cellular phone.

Rallos’ family begged off from issuing any statement while requesting for privacy as they grieved over his death.

“We may issue a statement only if there are already results of the police investigation,” said one of Rallos’ four children at St. Peter’s Funeral Homes along Imus Street in Cebu City, where the wake is being held.

Mourning

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino ordered its national headquarters in Quezon City and all regional offices in the country to fly the Philippine flag at half-staff to mourn the death of Rallos.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of one of our agents. The odds of being injured, wounded, or worst killed, continue to stacked against us. Sometimes we are unsuspecting preys to our unseen enemies,” he said in a press statement.

Aquino said they are not discounting the possibility that the ambush was work-related.

“An investigation is in progress to identify the perpetrators. Rallos’ death reflects the actual and real risks that drug law enforcers face, while they are on duty and even when off duty,” he said.

“PDEA condemn this dastardly act and vow that it will not dampen its resolve to intensify further the government’s fight against the menace of illegal drugs,” the PDEA chief added.

Awards

Leia Albiar, spokesperson of PDEA-7, said Rallos was named Employee of the Year in a nationwide search during the agency’s anniversary last June.

Rallos, she said, also received awards from the Cebu provincial government over a number of successful anti-drug operations he led.

Last Friday, Albiar said Rallos learned about an order dated July 16 that promoted him from investigation agent 1 to investigation agent 3.

“That’s a high supervisory position and just two steps to an assistant regional director, and three steps to a regional director,” she said.

Albiar declined to comment on the discovery of three packs of crystalline powder believed to be shabu (meth) inside Rallos’ car.

“We don’t have an official statement yet regarding the drugs seized (inside his car) because the parallel investigation conducted by agency is still ongoing,” she told Cebu Daily News.

Test results

The Crime Laboratory has yet to release the results of the examination to determine whether the white packs of crystalline powder found inside Rallos’ car were really shabu.

Macatangay said they were also awaiting the results of the paraffin test to find out whether or not Rallos managed to fire his gun; as well as the verification from the

Firearms and Explosives Office to determine whether the three guns found at the victim’s car were licensed and registered under his name.

Asked if she received information that Rallos was involved in the illegal drugs trade, Macatangay said, “Chismis pa na. (Those are rumors for now). We don’t want to settle with hearsays.”

“I’m not privy to the drugs list of the government. I don’t know. My only concern right now, being the chief of police of the place where the crime happened, is to identify the assailants, the motive behind the killing, and to solve this case,” she added.

As of Saturday, investigators still have no identities of the suspects although Macatangay said they already have “persons of interest,” two persons on board a motorcycle, which fit the descriptions given by witnesses.

‘Persons of interest’

The two “persons of interest” were seen in footages of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera in one of the houses in Barangay Kalunasan, about two kilometers away from the crime scene, just minutes after Rallos was killed.

The backrider wore a black jacket with a white patch on the right shoulder, black pants, and sandals. The driver, on the other hand, wore a dark blue sweat shirt, pants, and sandals.

The CCTV footage showed the two men wearing helmets but witnesses said the perpetrators did not wear any face cover when Rallos was killed.

“We still don’t have the names of these two guys,” Macatangay said.

Investigators have not secured any CCTV footage in the crime scene.

But based on their investigation, Macatangay said the assailant and the driver of the get-away motorcycle waited for Rallos’ car to pass by Villalon Street, near the Cebu Capitol.

“The perpetrators just waited at a bakeshop near the Capitol. They did not tail Rallos’ car,” she said.

Macatangay said they would continue to investigate to find out if there were “spotters” or those who tipped the assailants about the location of Rallos’ car after the latter left the PDEA-7 office in Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City.

“We have to talk to Rallos’ family and colleagues in PDEA so we will know the circumstances prior to the incident. We also hope to find some leads from his conversations in his cellphone,” she said. /WITH REPORTER MOREXETTE MARIE B. ERRAM

TAGS: agent, loss, mourns, Pdea