CEBU CITY, Philippines –Operatives of the Cebu City Mobile Patrol Group (MPG) gave chase to a motorcycle tandem for getting past a police checkpoint along Natalio Bacalso Avenue late night on Tuesday.
The chase ended in the death of the motorcycle driver, who was only identified as a certain Bata, and the arrest of his companion, Jesus Miñoza.
Police Major Keith Allen Andaya, the MPG chief, said that Bata engaged police in a shootout which resulted in his death.
Andaya said they continue to investigate the background of the two men and where they were headed for. He said that they had difficulty in talking to Miñoza citing inconsistencies in his pronouncements.
“Walay klaro iyahang mga tubag murag sabog nga hubog,” Andaya told CDN Digital.
(We are not getting clear answers from him (Miñoza) and it seems to us that he was either high on drugs or drunk.)
Andaya said they will continue to talk to Miñoza, who now detained at the Mambaling Police Station detention facility, when he is sober. Mambaling police took custody of the suspect because the crime scene was located within their jurisdiction.
Police are also deciding what case/s to file against Miñoza while Bata’s remains is with a funeral parlor that is located along N. Bacalso Avenue in Cebu City.
Quoting the outcome of their initial investigation, Andaya said there was a possibility that the two were robbers who were looking for a victim Tuesday night.
Police recovered three fake identification cards, two knives, and two unlicensed firearms from the possession of the two men. They also found a sack from Bata’s motorcycle.
Bata carried a .38 caliber revolver while Miñoza was armed with a .45 caliber pistol, Andaya said.
Andaya said that the two men, who came from downtown Cebu City, were travelling south when they ignored the MPG checkpoint which they set up near the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).
MPG cops gave chase.
Andaya said they cornered the two when they entered a dead-end in Sitio Larima in Barangay Mambaling.
He claimed that Bata engaged police in a shootout, which resulted in his death while Miñoza surrendered. / dcb