PROVINCIAL ROUNDUP: Police probe worker’s death Six nabbed in CamSur cases

By JORDAN KURT DOMINGO

POLICE in Camarines Sur are investigating the death of a provincial government employee in Pili while arresting six suspects in separate cases involving alleged rape and sexual assault, a fiesta stabbing, and illegal drugs in four other municipalities and cities.

The incidents, reported from October 24 to 27, involved the discovery of a 59-year-old administrative assistant’s body inside a boarding house comfort room in Pili, the arrest of two suspects following a stabbing during a barangay fiesta in Balatan, and police operations against alleged sexual offenses and illegal drugs in Minalabac, Nabua and Iriga City.

The Camarines Sur Police Provincial Office (CSPPO) said the provincial government employee, identified only as alias Mund, was found dead at around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, October 27, inside a locked comfort room at a boarding house in Barangay San Jose, Pili.

A fellow boarder, identified as alias Athan, 29, discovered the victim lying prone inside the comfort room and reported the incident to the Pili Municipal Police Station.

Responding police officers secured the area while awaiting the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) team. Authorities also requested assistance from the provincial forensic unit to process the scene and from a municipal health physician to determine the cause of death and conduct an autopsy.

The circumstances surrounding the employee’s death remain under investigation.

In Balatan, a father and his 18-year-old son were arrested after a 27-year-old construction worker was allegedly punched and stabbed during a dance party for a barangay fiesta in Barangay Coguit at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 25.

Police identified the suspects as aliases Kant, 18, and Milio, 39. Investigators alleged that the younger suspect punched the victim while his father stabbed him, inflicting injuries on different parts of his body.

The victim, identified as alias Lito, a Balatan resident, sustained minor injuries and was brought to MMG Hospital by municipal disaster risk reduction and management personnel.

Responding Balatan police officers arrested the two suspects, who remained in custody as investigators pursued the case.

Meanwhile, police arrested Minalabac’s No. 1 most wanted person in connection with allegations of qualified rape of a minor and five counts of sexual assault.

The 43-year-old suspect, identified as alias Noel, a farmer and Minalabac resident, was arrested at around 5:25 p.m. on Monday, October 27, in Barangay Mataoroc by personnel of the Minalabac Municipal Police Station, the 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company and the Camarines Sur Provincial Intelligence Unit.

Police said the qualified rape case carries no recommended bail, while bail for each of the five sexual assault counts was set at P200,000. The suspect was brought to the Naga City General Hospital for medical examination before being taken to the Minalabac police station for proper disposition.

In Nabua, three people were arrested in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Bustrac at around 4:15 p.m. on Monday, October 27, after allegedly selling a sachet of suspected shabu to a poseur-buyer for P500.

The CSPPO identified the suspects as aliases Aileen, 42, a housewife from Nabua; Tan-Tan, 25, a farmer from Bato; and Ikang, 25, a housewife, also from Bato.

Police reported seizing two sachets of suspected shabu weighing a combined 10.1 grams, with an estimated street value of P68,680. A second sachet was reportedly recovered from a cigarette pack found in a rice field.

The operation was conducted by the Nabua Municipal Police Station’s Municipal Drug Enforcement Unit in coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Regional Office 5. Police said a criminal complaint was being prepared for filing with the prosecutor’s office.

In a separate operation in Iriga City on Saturday, October 24, police arrested a 29-year-old man in Barangay San Agustin and seized suspected shabu and marijuana.

The suspect, identified as alias KD, allegedly sold a sachet of suspected shabu to a poseur-buyer for P1,000 in marked money during an operation conducted by the Iriga City Police Station’s City Drug Enforcement Unit in coordination with PDEA-5.

Police reported confiscating 2.78 grams of suspected shabu worth P18,904 and 1.79 grams of suspected marijuana valued at P214.80.

The suspect was informed of his constitutional rights and was to be brought to the Iriga City police station with the confiscated substances for proper disposition.

Authorities said the drug operations were documented in accordance with required procedures, including the use of recording devices and the presence of witnesses during the inventory of seized items.

The allegations against the arrested suspects remain subject to the appropriate legal proceedings.