CEBU CITY, Philippines — Jennifer Mercader, a high-risk inmate and former Barangay Captain of Lugo in Borbon town, Cebu, was killed in a police operation in Barangay Minoyan, Murcia town, Negros Occidental on Monday morning, September 28, 2020.
Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), told reporters that Mercader, who escaped from the Medellin jail facility in March 2019, was killed in a shootout as police defended themselves in the armed confrontation.
“Naay nahitabo nga armed confrontation, the police were defending themselves… the long hand of the law will surely get you if you are a criminal. So that’s the only time that justice will be served if you will be able to arrest them,” said Ferro.
Ferro said the operation was done in coordination with the Negros Occidental Police Office as Mercader was reported to have been hiding in the area after he escaped from the Medellin jail.
Read: High-risk inmate from Borbon escapes Medellin Jail
According to Ferro, the tracker team of PRO-7 was responsible for discovering Mercader’s hideout.
Two loose firearms and P472,000 worth of illegal drugs were reportedly found in Mercader’s rented home after the shootout.
Mercader was arrested for possession of illegal drugs last 2017 and was jailed. Before he escaped in 2019, Mercader admitted he was once a hitman.
Read: Village chief arrested in Borbon
He was later linked to the killing of then Police Lieutenant Colonel Joie Yape, who was shot dead along Molave Street in Cebu City last November 21, 2019.
Read: Former PIB chief, Yape, shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Cebu City
Yape was formerly the chief of PIB under CPPO in 2017, and handled high profile cases such as the raid in the house of late Medillin town Mayor Ricardo Ramirez.
Ferro said that even with the death of Mercader, they will still be looking for his possible cohorts who helped him escape and brought him to Murcia.
/bmjo