Iloilo cop dies from ‘accidental’ firing

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Another member of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) died in an alleged case of “accidental gun firing.”

Master Sergeant Stephen Aguilar, 39, succumbed to a gunshot on the head.

Police report indicated that the incident happened around 5:30 am on September 5 at Aguilar’s house in Barangay Cuartero, Jaro, Iloilo City.

In the same blotter report, Maloco’s wife claimed that she tried to wake him up to prepare for duty.

Maloco allegedly got up and took his firearm tucked under the pillows. But his wife claimed that the gun went off and she later saw blood gushing out of his head.

The wife also claimed that they rushed Aguilar to Iloilo Mission Hospital where he was declared dead at around 6:35 a.m.

Meanwhile, Colonel Uldarico Garbanzos, Iloilo City police chief, said they booked the incident as a case of accidental firing.

“But we’re verifying the wife’s testimonies over the physical evidences we gathered at the scene of the incident,” he said.

Garbanzos did not comment on reports that the incident could be more than accidental gun firing.

“Let the investigation take its course,” he said.

Based on IPPO records, Aguilar was a detective assigned to the IPPO Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Unit (PIDMU).

He’s been in service for almost 16 years.

In less than two months, Aguilar is the second cop who was found dead with a gunshot wound on the head.

On July 20, a rookie policeman was also found lifeless at a secluded area in Miag-ao, Iloilo.

A resident of Barangay Damilisan, Miagao discovered the body of Patrolman Marvin del Castillo, a police trainee detailed to the San Joaquin Police Station. He was part of the Pre-Basic Internal Security Operation Course (BISOC) trainees sent to different police stations in Iloilo province.

Apart from the gunshot injury, no other wound was found on del Castillo’s body.