Cop tagged as gunman in Fil-Norwegian’s slay

MANILA, Philippines—The top official of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Tuesday urged a fellow policeman to give himself up after he was tagged in the fatal shooting of a Filipino-Norwegian teenager during a bar brawl on Sunday.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent George Regis said that Police Officer 2 Harold Meneses of the Manila Police District had sent surrender feelers to his superior.

Meneses, who is assigned at the Tondo police station, was identified as the man who shot dead 18-year-old Mikael Troy Rasay during a brawl in front of a row of bars on Timog Avenue in Quezon City before dawn on Sunday.

According to Regis, the policeman has not reported for work nor has he gone to his house in Tondo since the shooting.

“He should turn himself in for the quick resolution of the case,” the official said.

Rasay was in Manila for a visit but was set to return to Norway shortly when Meneses allegedly shot him at around 5 a.m. after the victim figured in a fight in front of Excess Bar on Timog Avenue.

Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, head of the QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said witnesses told probers that the victim was seen trading punches with the policeman’s male companion just before he was shot.

“I will give him [only] a week to surrender,” Marcelo said, adding that the policeman faces murder charges over the victim’s death.

Case investigator PO2 Hermogenes Capili said that they were able to identify the victim’s shooter because the policeman had written down his name when he deposited his firearm with the bar’s security guard.

“Meneses was the only person who checked in a gun at the bar. He was with several civilian companions,” Capili added.