Case filed vs cop suspected of killing Tawi-tawi vice mayor

August 6, 2018

ZAMBOANGA CITY - A criminal case has been filed against a policeman who is the suspected trigger man in the killing of a Tawi-Tawi town official on July 11 here.

Senior Inspector Shellamie Chang of the Zamboanga City Police Office on Monday said the suspect was PO2 Mohammad Lacbao Tulete, assigned at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Chang said Tulete was identified by witnesses who were together during the incident with Vice Mayor Al-Rasid Mohammad Alih, 53, of Sapa-Sapa town in Tawi-Tawi.

Alih was on a sports utility vehicle (SUV) with his wife, daughter and a police escort when he was shot as they stopped near the intersection of Veterans and Gov. Alvarez avenue in Barangay Camino Nuevo.

Alih and his companions came from a shopping mall. Alih, who was shot twice, died several minutes later at a hospital here.

Chang said they have forwarded the case of murder against Tulete on July 27 before the City Prosecutor’s Office, who then filed the case in court. A warrant of arrest has been issued against the suspect.

But Chang said they have to find out if  Tulete is still active or went absent without official leave.

She said manhunt to arrest the suspect is going on but “we have problems in locating his whereabouts.” DMS