4 cops hurt in Zamboanga del Sur road accident

COTABATO CITY -- Four policemen were badly hurt in a vehicular accident Wednesday in Payao town in Zamboanga del Sur.

Lt. Herod Partosa of the Payao Municipal Police Station said the injured Master Sgt. Sonny Jasani and Patrolmen Corneliu Lopena, Frank Drapeza and Elizer Garingo are now confined in a hospital.

Partosa said the four policemen were together in a Mahindra patrol vehicle that wiggled, flipped and turned-turtle while maneuvering through a stretch of a highway in Sitio Subing Subing in Barangay Guintolan in Payao, Zamboanga del Sur.

Partosa said the brake system of the ill-fated patrol vehicle malfunctioned, causing the accident.

Lopena, Drapeza and Garingo, who sustained bone fractures, were rushed to the Ciudad Medical Center in Zamboanga City owing to their delicate condition.

The accident that caused them serious injuries was preceded by last month’s death of Patrolwoman Florilyn Balansag in a highway mishap in Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte that injured four other police personnel.

Balansag was in a team riding a police pick-up truck that slammed a large Mahogany tree along a highway in Barangay Santo Niño in Tampilisan also due to a mechanical problem.

Staff Sgt. Eric Panangitan, Patrolwomen Princess Ann Adaza and Cherrie Ann Armuganda and Patrolman Ray Franciso of the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Police Office sustained serious injuries in the incident.