A police officer was killed by alleged members of the New People's Army in Tubungan, Iloilo last Monday evening.

Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) said Police Master Sergeant Arnel Paurillo, 42, was at the home of his friend at Barangay Teniente Benito, Tubungan waiting for an intel operative to plan the arrest of a wanted person in the barangay.

According to the witnesses, suspects entered the residence and introduced themselves as NPA members before shooting Paurillo.

Police found Paurillo lying at the kitchen floor with gunshot wounds in different parts of his body. He was declared dead on the spot by the rural health physician of Tubungan.

Paurillo entered the police service on September 30, 2004 and was assigned at Tubungan Municipal Police Station and on detached service with the Provincial Drugs Enforcement Unit of IPPO.

Police Colonel Paul Kenneth Lucas, IPPO chief, said they condemned the killing of Paurillo who was conducting surveillance for the possible arrest of a wanted person.

"We are deeply saddened by the death of Master Sergeant Paurillo in the course of fulfilling his duty to enforce the law and fight criminality," Lucas said. Ella Dionisio/DMS