Former NPA rebel turned hitman shot dead in Bago

January 26, 2021 by No Comments

A FORMER member of the New People’s Army (NPA), who is also wanted for murder, was killed after he allegedly engaged in a gun battle with police in Purok Sta. Rita, Barangay Dulao, Bago City late Friday night, January 23, 2021.

Police identified the fatality as 51-year-old Emmanuel Dequilla Sampani, a resident of the said place.

Based on an official report released by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO), members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Kidnapping Group based from Camp Crame in Metro Manila along with operatives of the Bago City PNP were supposed to serve an arrest warrant for the crime of murder issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 79 Morong, Rizal.

As Sampani was driving his motorcycle, he noticed that he was being followed by the authorities, prompting him to dismount his vehicle and ran towards a nearby sugarcane field.

Police immediately gave chase and a gun battle ensued after Sampani fired at the authorities. Sampani was later declared dead on the spot after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds on his body.

A search of the suspect and his belongings yielded a loaded .45 caliber pistol, a loaded 9-millimeter pistol, and a loaded .38 caliber revolver.

Police also seized the suspect’s wallet containing assorted identification cards, receipts, a one US dollar bill, and P1,500 in cash. Two-way portable radio and a mobile phone were also found on the suspect’s belongings.

Sampani reportedly joined the NPA’s Narciso Antaso Amaril Command in Rizal, however, he was kicked out of the insurgent group after he was accused of sexually assaulting another NPA member identified only as “Ka Venus.”

Upon his return to Negros Occidental, Sampani joined a local gun for hire group. He is being suspected as one of the gunmen involved in a shooting incident and land grabbing activities in the province.