No surrender feelers yet from Longno’s cohort

THE Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) have not received yet any surrender feelers from the companion of Raymond Longno alias “Small Boy”, the principal suspect in the killing of lawyer Johnny Chua last Saturday, said BCPO director Ricardo De la Paz on Thursday.

Longno was killed by two unidentified gunmen the day after Chua’s murder. During Chua’s assassination, the gunman was accompanied by a cohort who drove their getaway motorcycle.

De la Paz said they don’t receive any feelers from Longno’s companion that he’s willing to surrender to the police.

Earlier, the city director appealed to the gunman’s cohort to voluntarily surrender to the police because his life is also in danger.

Longno, 37, of Camia-Marapara Streets, Barangay Villamonte, was killed by two unidentified gunmen at Malaspina Street, Barangay Villamonte last Sunday, a day after the killing of Chua, 63, owner of Eastview Hotel, and resident of Margarita Street, Capitol Ville Subdivision, Barangay Villamonte.

De la Paz said Longno was killed to completely silence him because he could link the crime’s mastermind to the killing of Chua. The city director advised Longno’s companion to voluntarily surrender for protective custody because the fate of Longno might also happen to him.

“He should not be afraid to surrender because the police will protect him and we assure his safety. If he will not directly surrender to the authorities, he can also surrender to the group of media or any government official,” De la Paz said.

He said Longno’s cohort has some pending records in BCPO but he refused to give further details on the suspect’s identity, since the operation is still ongoing.

De la Paz assured the suspect’s family that, if Longno’s cohort will surrender, he will be safe and the police will provide security for him because they believe that his life is also in danger from those who killed Longno.

“It’s very possible that the suspects who killed Longno are also guns-for-hire to completely silence him so that he could not link the mastermind in the killing of Chua,” he said.

On the other hand, the city director also met with a business group in the city last Wednesday to assure them that the peace and order in the city is manageable, in spite of some shooting incidents in Bacolod.

De la Paz said the killing of Chua is an isolated incident and that there’s no reason that the public to be alarmed.

“The motive is personal and it’s not directly related to the business situation in the city,” he said.

The city director assured the business group that they could solve the said case and that justice will prevail. (MAP)