Nartatez orders probe on deaths of cop, soldier

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February 10, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines —   The Philippine National Police has launched separate investigations into the death of a senior police officer in Davao City and the fatal ambush of a retired military colonel in Cotabato, PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said yesterday.

According to investigators, Lt. Col. Deosar Almaza, acting chief of the logistics and research development division in Davao Region, was found dead inside his housing unit just hours before the scheduled command visit of Nartatez yesterday at Camp Quintin M. Merecido. 

The incident was discovered after Almaza failed to respond to the calls of fellow officers who wanted to request him to move his car in preparation for Nartatez’s arrival.

When they kicked the door open, they found the bloodied official sitting on a chair and holding a gun. Emergency responders rushed him to a hospital where he was declared dead.

Meanwhile, Nartatez ordered an intensified manhunt to identify and arrest the gunmen in the ambush of retired colonel Leonardo Songcaya in Matalam, Cotabato.

Songcaya was driving a pickup truck on Feb. 6 when several unidentified men fired their guns at the vehicle, at the boundary of Barangays Kidama and Poblacion.

Probers said Songcaya died at the scene.

Investigators noted that Songcaya was known for supporting humanitarian programs for retired soldiers and police personnel in Cotabato. –