Two armed men robbed seven teachers of the Coyaoyao Elementary School in Brgy. Inolingan, Moises Padilla town, Wednesday afternoon, and later took one of them hostage while fleeing from enraged residents who responded to the incident.

Several hours after the incident, Moises Padilla policemen, with the 11th Infantry Battalion soldiers, found the lifeless body of one of the suspects, identified as Roland Cajulao, in a sugarcane field, with a stab wound in his lower abdomen, and a broken jaw.

Senior Inspector Robert Mansueto, Moises Padilla police chief, yesterday said that Cajulao, who had been charged in court for murder, was identified as one of the two suspects, who had robbed the teachers, who stay at the school on weekdays.

Investigations by the Moises Padilla Police Station showed that Cajulao and his companion, identified as Remy Escaño, armed with a homemade shotgun, locally known as sulpak, and bladed weapons, entered one the school classrooms at about 5:45 pm.

Mansueto said five of the seven teachers managed to escape, but Chona Paron and Analyn Padohilaga, who is pregnant, were left behind.

Cajulao and Escaño divested Paron and Padohilaga of a cellular phone, and a shoulder bag containing personal belongings and P300 in cash.

Paron, who was held hostage by the two suspects apparently to shield themselves from the mob that had responded to the incident, however, also managed to escape, Mansueto said.

While fleeing from the mob, Mansueto said the two suspects also tried to stab and hurl a stone on two persons they met.

He said three groups of barangay residents, including tanods, who were alarmed by the robbery-hold-up and hostage-taking incident, pursued the two suspects.

Mansueto, however, said they cannot ascertain yet who were responsible for the killing of Cajulao.

Classes were temporarily suspended by the school principal, Julius Caceres, because of the incident, he added.

Mansueto said they have evacuated the seven teachers to Moises Padilla town, and their pursuit operations against Escaño, together with the Philippine Army, are still ongoing.

The body of Cajulao was found in a sugarcane field, about 200 meters away from the school, with the homemade shotgun beside him, and the shoulder bag of Paron, several meters away.

Mansueto said Escaño is also facing murder charges in court. He and Cajulao have been linked to robbery-hold-up activities in Moises Padilla and neighboring towns, police investigations also showed.*GPB

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