Chief Supt. Prudencio Tom Bañas, Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 director, said he will honor the late PO1 Michael June Ejoc who died last week during a shootout with the group of suspected drug pusher Artemio Tare Jr. in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. Ejoc's remains were brought to Tubigon yesterday and will lie in state until Sept. 1, 2014, according to his elementary classmate, lawyer Julius Gregory Delgado. Bañas said the five wounded policemen during the anti-drug operation, including those shot at the checkpoint which led to the killing of Tare in Guindulman town will also receive recognition. However, he did not mention what award will be given to Ejoc and the wounded policemen. Bañas said he will visit the family of Ejoc to personally give the posthumous honor because he died in the line of duty. Ejoc was one of the members of the Provincial Intelligence Branch of the Bohol Provincial Police Office who responded to a reported drug trade in Barangay Poblacion, Tagbilaran City Thursday morning.

The PIB operatives were fired upon by the group of Tare. Ejoc died on the spot while PO1 Reynan Tagotongan, PO2 Judito Jasmin, and PO1 Carlito Gamalo were wounded. Tagotongan is still confined at the hospital while Jasmin and Gamalo were already discharged. Tare was shot dead in a follow up operation after he tried shooting it out with policemen manning a checkpoint in Guindulman town Saturday evening. Injured in the Guindulman shootout were PO1 Joel Bayron and PO1 Jeremias Platino. Because of this, Bañas reminded his men to be cautious at all times but added that such incidents are part of the hazards of being police officers. Meanwhile, Bañas has directed the Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) leadership to look into possible lapses by the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) during an anti-drug operation which cost the life of a policeman and the wounding of three others.

Bañas said he wanted to know why the PIB operatives in Bohol were caught off-guard by the group of suspected drug pusher Artemio Tare, Jr. resulting in the death of PO1 Michael June Ejoc and the wounding of PO1 Reynan Tagotongan, PO2 Judito Jasmin and PO1 Carlito Gamalo. Tagotongan was seriously injured after he was hit in the head and had to undergo a major operation. He is now in stable condition, said Chief Inspector Alvin Futalan, PIB chief of the BPPO. The two other policemen were already discharged from the hospital. Tare was also killed by the police in Guindulman town in a shootout that ensued after he allegedly fired at a police checkpoint Saturday evening. PIB operatives responded to a reported drug trade in Tagbilaran City last Thursday morning when they were fired upon by the group of Tare killing Ejoc on the spot. Futalan said he found nothing irregular in the conduct of the operation. He said they observed the proper operating procedure during the incident. But Bañas said the policemen should not have been too complacent and should have taken extra precautionary measures. “We should be more careful in our operations, in whatever operations, in our fight against all forms of criminalities,” Bañas said. (PNA)