By AARON RECUENCO
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ANTI-kidnapping operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) killed a former policeman and two others in a raid on a farm in Tiaong, Quezon early Thursday morning.
Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, director of the PNP-Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG), said they conducted operation in Barangay Behia in Tiaong town after they received reports that a group led by a dismissed policeman was in possession of unlicensed firearms.
He identified him as former Patrolman Rico Moog Gutierrez, formerly assigned as intelligence officer of the Quezon Police Provincial Office.
A background check revealed that Gutierrez’s uncle, Jaime Moog, is wanted for kidnapping-for-ransom and carries a bounty of P500,000.
“We also received report that the dismissed policeman has been coddling his uncle in that area so we applied for search warrant which court granted,” said Estomo.
But as the AKG operatives were about to serve the search warrant at around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, the group of Gutierrez engaged them in a gunbattle that lasted for 15 minutes.
Killed during the gunfight was Gutierrez and a certain Jose Alcaria. The third fatality is yet to be identified.
Jamie Moog was not in the area during the operation.
Seized during the operation were two 2 M16 rifles, a semi-auto shotgun, seven.45 pistols and several revolvers.
