Seven security guards were arrested after a shooting incident left seven sugarcane workers injured in Hacienda Escolastica, Brgy. Mabini, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Police said the victims, aged 44 to 57, were agrarian reform beneficiaries cutting sugarcane when the suspects, all guards hired by a landowner, arrived on board a white Toyota pickup and tried to stop them from harvesting.
A heated argument ensued, and the guards allegedly drew their service firearms and fired warning shots into the ground, but the victims were hit in the lower parts of their bodies.
The workers were immediately rushed by Cadiz Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office rescuers to the Cadiz City Emergency Clinic.
The police identified the suspects only by their aliases as “Steve”, 31, “Rey”, 32, Rodel, “30”, “Rudy”, 38, “Armel”, 53, “Ken”, 26, and “Boy”, 29.
The guards were turned over to Cadiz City Police Station, along with their issued firearms.
Paraffin tests were administered to the seven security guards by the Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) team at the Cadiz Component City Police Station.
Their issued firearms have been turned over to the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) Provincial Forensic Unit for ballistic examination and gunpowder residue testing.
A formal request for license verification of the security agency was submitted to Regional Civil Security Unit 6, followed by a second request for a comprehensive records check to determine the legality of the agency’s posting and deployment.
“We strongly condemn this violent act which endangered members of our community. The Philippine National Police will never tolerate the unlawful use of firearms to intimidate or harm others,” Brig.Gen. Aarnold Thomas Ibay, PRO NIR head. said.
“Appropriate charges are being pursued, and we will ensure that the perpetrators are held fully accountable under the law,” he added.*