Ecija jail warden murdered; Umali offers P1-M reward for gunman’s capture

CABANATUAN CITY – The jail warden of the Nueva Ecija provincial jail

was gunned down by an unidentified assailant Wednesday night in what police authorities  said could be related to his crackdown against illegal drugs inside the jailhouse.

           Senior Superintendent Crizaldo Nieves, provincial police director, identified the slain jail official as Enrico Campos, 55, of Barangay Mayapyap Sur this city.

          Campos, a retired policeman, died from two gunshot wounds from a caliber 45 revolver and another unknown firearm.

          Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali yesterday offered a P1-million reward for the capture of Campos’ killers and gave the Philippine National Police one month to solve the killing.

          The site where Campos was killed is near the provincial jail in Barangay Caalibangbangan. The jail is being administratively supervised by the provincial government.     

          Nieves said Campos was driving his red Honda motorcycle with license plate 8403-VK along the Maharlika Highway in Mayapyap Sur at around 7:15 pm Monday when shot by an unidentified suspect who escaped.           Campos was rushed to the Premier General Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

          In his speech marking the 113^th anniversary of the Nueva Ecija police here, Umali denounced the attack and said the police should rise to the occasion and get to the bottom of the killing.

“On many occasions, you have shown that you were worthy to accept the challenge. I now challenge you to solve the murder of Campos,” he said, while announcing the bounty.

          He said he is willing to provide all the necessary support to the PNP in helping solve the crime.

          Nieves told reporters that he has formed Task Force Campos to look into the killing. He said they will do everything to solve the killing within the timeline imposed by the governor.

          “We will do our best. Of course, we cannot promise that we will have it solved in one month,” he said.

          Nieves said they are looking at several angles as possible motives for the murder of Campos, among them his work as jail warden, personal among others. He said they have received reports that the slain official implemented drastic reforms inside the jail, particularly with regards to visitations.

          He added that there have been reports that Campos imposed a crackdown against illegal drugs inside the jailhouse.

          “We have been looking into his cellphones to see if we can extract information,” he said, adding they are also looking into recordings in the closed circuit television (CCTV) which may be used as evidence.

          PO3 Erwin Gonzales, investigator-on-case, said they will also look into Campos’ records as a retired policeman to see if this could be connected to the killing. “As a former policeman, there may be certain things that could be associated with his killing,” Gonzales said.

          He said that it’s still unclear if Campos was attacked by a single assailant or by gunmen who are riding-in-tandem because the area where he was shot was dark. “In fact, people near the place where he was shot thought he just met an accident,” he said. (Manny Galvez)