Cop guns down man who ‘ran amuck’

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A 41-year-old man who ran amuck while wielding a bolo and knife was shot dead by police in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo evening of June 7, 2021.

Police identified the fatality as Joel Simpao, 41, and a resident of Barangay Bagumbayan, Santa Barbara, the area where the incident happened.

Simpao died while undergoing treatment at Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

Major Raymond Celoso, Sta. Barbara police chief, said Simpao’s sister went to the police at around 4:30 p.m. of Monday to seek help.

“She was asking for police assistance claiming that they couldn’t control the suspect,” he said.

Police had to respond since the victim was armed with deadly weapons, Celoso said. They tried to negotiate for Simpao to peacefully surrender his weapons.

But Simpao asked to talk to his friends Simon and Jory.

He was repeatedly saying that he wanted to talk to Simon because the latter not only took the ‘puso ng saging’ (banana bloom) but the banana itself.

But Simon denied the incident even took place.

Simpao’s family claimed that he suffered from nervous breakdown.

Simpao, a criminology graduate, allegedly began manifesting such mental condition after he failed to pass the board exam.

Since there was no sign of Simpao giving in to the police and his family’s request to yield, Celoso asked for assistance from the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO)’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team.

Personnel of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office were also on stand by.

The responding authorities decided to use improvised bamboo ladders to pin Simpao and neutralize him.

But he managed to wiggle out and attacked Celoso with a bolo.

Celoso parried the attack with the use of a small bamboo pole, forcing the police chief to lose his balance.

When Simpao again tried to attack Celoso, Master Sergeant Richard Jamoyot shot and hit the right side of his body.

The bolo also hit his head when he fell to the ground.

Celoso suffered bruises on his right knuckles and was taken to Western Visayas Sanitarium while the suspect was taken to WVMC in Iloilo City where he died at around 12:28 a.m. Tuesday.

Celoso said they are saddened by what happened to Simpao.

“We just wanted to neutralize him. Our policemen had no choice because our lives were also at risk,” he said.

It remains uncertain if the family will seek a deeper probe on the incident or will file charges against the police officers.