PRO-7 exec: Slain cop is same cop in narco-list

THE police officer killed in the Oct. 12 Talisay City ambush is the same person included in President Rodrigo Duterte’s narco-list.

Supt. Reyman Tolentin, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) said this in an interview with Cebu Daily News on Sunday.

Tolentin said that the Talisay City Police’s follow up investigation on the slain PO3 Micahel Santino Cortes showed that he was the PO2 Michael Cortez in Duterte’s narco-list.

“Confirmed as based on the investigation of the Talisay City Police and further counter check at the regional level,” said Tolentin.

Supt. Marlu Conag, Talisay Police Station chief, in a separate interview, confirmed Tolentin’s statement.

“Iisa lang sila. Na-misspelled lang ‘yung pangalan. Pero si Micahel Santino Cortes is siya rin ‘yung Michael ‘Micmic’ Cortez (They are the same. The name was just misspelled. But Micahel Sanitno Cortes is the same with Michael ‘Micmic’ Cortez),” said Conag.

Despite this, Senior Supt. Manuel Abrugena, Cebu Provincial Police Office chief, for his part, said that to be sure, they would still confirm these findings with the national police office in Camp Crame.

Earlier, the relatives of Cortes denied allegations that he was the same person in the narco-list.

The family pointed out the spelling of the name in the list as Michael Cortez while their brother’s name was Micahel Santino Cortes.

Leda Cortes, the slain police officer’s wife, also said that the rank on the list was not the same as that of her husband.

“My husband was already PO3 (Police Officer 3) at that time and not PO2 (Police Officer 3). He is not the one in the list of the president,” said Leda.
Cortes and three others were killed by several gunmen during an ambush in Barangay Pooc, Talisay City.