MANILA, Philippines — The chief of the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group’s Luzon field office was killed while another officer was wounded in a firefight early Saturday morning, December 23, that also left four suspects dead but their victim safely rescued.
A police report released to media said Superintendent Arthur Masungsong and his men were on their way to Angat, Bulacan to catch up with the kidnappers of Raziel Esguerra, who they had hoped to capture in an entrapment at a gasoline station in Balagtas town.
However, the kidnappers reset the rendezvous to Angat.
While on their way there, the police unit chanced on the white Mistubishi Adventure used in the December 22 abduction and were fired on by the kidnappers at around 1:10 a.m.
The wounded Masungsong and Chief Inspector Reynaldo Lumactod were rushed to a hospital. But the unit commander succumbed to his injuries.
Lumactod was subsequently transferred to a Manila hospital where he remains confined.
The operation was mounted after Esguerra’s brother, Roniel Bungay, sought their assistance of the AKG office in Camp Crame and said his sister’s kidnappers were demanding a P15 million ransom.