BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
“Their loss reverberates through the memories of their loved ones and their friends and colleagues up to and until the end of time.”
Thus said National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Officer-In-Charge Eric Distor as the bureau honored on Wednesday all of its five agents who perished in the line of duty over the decades.
He was referring to Teddy Col-Coli, Rogelio Domingo, Antonio Dayao, Edwin Martinez and Arnel Garcia. Col-Coli was Distor’s batchmate at the NBI Academy.
“Kaya memorable today para sa akin,” said Distor during the event honoring the fallen on the occasion of the NBI’s 84th founding anniversary.
The NBI was supposed to hold the event on its anniversary last Friday (Nov. 13), but had to postpone it due to typhoon “Ulysses.”
Distor reminded that these five persons whose names have been etched at the memorial at the NBI headquarters in Manila have “died in the line of duty.”
“Let us give thanks for these brave men’s sacrifices. Let us honor their bravery and their lives as well as bear in mind that their legacy leads far as long as we who are alive remember them all all the time,” he declared.
Col-Coli died during a botched illegal drugs buy-bust on Oct. 3, 2001 in Fairmont Subdivision in North Fairview, Quezon City after being double-crossed by the narcotics traders.
Also killed during the operation were suspected drug dealer Alvin Batuas and informants Daniel Domingo and Soledad Guzman. The other suspects were eventually arrested by the NBI.
