Negros Occidental police sergeant survives ambush

BACOLOD CITY: A policeman survived an ambush by unidentified gunmen at Camelot Subdivision, Barangay Estefania, Bacolod City, on Sunday morning.

The victim was identified as Police Staff Sgt. Miguel Perez, 43, who is assigned at the Legal Service of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) at Camp Alfredo Montelibano Sr. in Bacolod City. Police Capt. Charles Gever, commander of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Station 4, said Perez was on his way home, on board his driven Toyota WIgo vehicle, when he was ambushed by the armed suspects. Perez managed to get out from the ambush site, although he was hit in the left shoulder. Gever said their investigation showed that the suspects were armed with high-powered firearms. While they are yet to establish the motive for the incident, he added, they are looking into personal grudges that triggered the ambush, or may have been insurgency- related, considering the empty shells recovered from the crime scene. Recovered from the scene of incident were empty shells of M16 assault rifle and a slug of a still undetermined caliber of a handgun, according to Gever.