SAF man, wife dead in Antipolo road crash

Almost 24 hours after a road accident in Antipolo City led to the death of a Special Action Force (SAF) trooper and his wife, police investigators have yet to determine if the policeman committed suicide or accidentally shot himself in the head.

When reached by the Inquirer on Wednesday, Antipolo police chief Supt. Lucilo Laguna Jr. said they were still waiting for the Scene of the Crime Operatives report on the death of PO2 Delbert Asoy, a 33-year-old member of the elite police force. He added, however, that the angle of foul play had been ruled out.

Around 9:05 p.m. Tuesday, Asoy and his wife Marilyn, 27, were on a motorcycle when it was sideswiped by a 10-wheel truck driven by Luisito Galang on Zigzag Road in Barangay Dalig. At that time, both vehicles were headed toward Antipolo City, with the couple tailing the truck, according to Rizal provincial police Public Information Office head, Insp. Cherrylyn Agtarap, citing the results of their initial investigation.

She said that as the two vehicles approached a sharp curve in the road, the couple overtook the truck which accidentally sideswiped their motorcycle.

Due to the impact, Marilyn lost her balance and fell off the motorcycle, Agtarap said, adding that the victim’s body was nearly cut in half after the truck’s front wheel ran over it.

Driver tried to flee

At this point, her husband, who was unhurt, asked Galang for help in bringing Marilyn to the hospital. However, the truck driver allegedly refused and tried to drive away, prompting the policeman to fire a warning shot which hit the truck driver’s helper, Nikko Castillo, in the eye.

Agtarap said that what happened next remains unclear. A bystander, Napoleon Digma, told probers that the next thing he saw was the SAF trooper lying on the ground with a pool of blood around his head. Recovered from the crime scene were two cartridges from the 9-mm pistol of the victim who died on the spot due to a gunshot wound in the head.

Concerned citizens brought Marilyn to the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center (ARMMC) but she died while undergoing treatment. Castillo, on the other hand, was taken to Rizal Provincial Hospital and then transferred to the ARMMC where he remained under observation.

Galang was brought to the Antipolo police station for the filing of a charge of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide against him. –Jovic Yee