PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur – What began as a brazen daylight ambush of a police corporal in Dumalinao town, Zamboanga del Sur, on Wednesday ended less than 24 hours later with the surrender of one suspect, also a cop, and the arrest of his alleged cohort.
Police Cpl Armaejo Unab Jornadal, 36, of Barangay Kalubi, San Miguel town, and a member of the 2nd Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Mobile Force Company, was gunned down by motorcycle-riding assailants in Barangay Tikwas at around 5 p.m. while on his way home from Pagadian City.
PLt. Phillip Basaya Jr., chief of Dumalinao Municipal Police Station (MPS), said responding officers found Jornadal sprawled on the road, drenched in blood. Dr. Jovanie Vista, of Margosatubig Regional Hospital, who happened to be passing by, examined the victim and declared him dead on the spot.
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Initial investigation showed that two men aboard a black Honda XRM 125 tailed the victim before overtaking him in Purok Lapu-lapu. The backrider fired multiple shots, causing Jornadal to crash. The gunman then dismounted, seized the victim’s sling bag and personal belongings, and fled toward Guipos town. His government-issued firearm was missing.
Scene of the Crime Operatives recovered four spent shells of a suspected 9mm pistol. Investigators also found a loan receipt dated July 1 from the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loans Association, Inc. (AFPSLAI) inside the motorcycle compartment. This indicated Jornadal had just processed a cash loan before the attack.
Col. Bonifacio Arañas Jr., Zamboanga del Sur provincial police director, told the Inquirer that the main motive of the incident was robbery.
The suspects carted away an estimated P214,000 from the victim, he said.
He condemned the killing and assured the victim’s family and the public that “no stone will be left unturned” in the investigation.
READ: Police corporal shot dead in Zamboanga del Sur
By Thursday morning, relentless hot pursuit operations and intelligence-driven policing yielded a breakthrough.
A police staff sergeant assigned to the Margosatubig MPS surrendered at 10:50 a.m., admitting he drove the motorcycle during the ambush. He surrendered his service firearm and the motorcycle used in the crime, and identified his cohort as the alleged gunman.
Police Capt. Derf Jay Maquinta, spokesperson of the Zamboanga del Sur Police Provincial Office (ZSPPO), revealed that authorities were able to establish the police suspect’s identity after extensive backtracking and review of closed-circuit television footage.
“We identified him as a person of interest through our CCTV backtrackings, which pointed to that individual,” Maquinta said.
Realizing that he had been tagged as a person of interest and confronted with mounting evidence, the policeman reportedly felt pressured to surrender. He later confided to his station chief and surrendered.
Acting on the surrendered policeman’s information, joint police units arrested the alleged shooter at his residence in Barangay Poblacion, Margosatubig, at around 6 p.m. Authorities recovered Jornadal’s issued CANIK 9mm pistol from the suspect’s possession.
Both suspects were turned over to the Dumalinao police, along with the recovered firearm and other evidence, for the filing of criminal charges.
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Arañas commended the swift coordination of investigative, intelligence, forensic, and operating units, saying the breakthrough “underscores the effectiveness of sustained law enforcement operations and reaffirms the PNP’s commitment to pursue justice and uphold the rule of law.”/coa
