Friday, October 06, 2006 Grenade, gunfire kill ‘asset’ By Mia E. Abellana Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A GRENADE explosion that killed an active civilian volunteer and injured his family marred an otherwise peaceful fiesta celebration in Balamban, Cebu Wednesday night.
Agosto “Boy” Tagonon, 45, suffered more than five gunshot wounds, aside from injuries caused by shrapnel.
Injured were his wife Crispina, 45, daughter Rhea Mae, 8, son Ronel and daughter-in-law Jeska, 24.
Town police, who also mourned his death, are looking into his active participation in police operations as a motive for the killing. Agosto was a member of the town’s civilian volunteer organization for about three years.
He quit his job as a habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) driver just to concentrate on his duties.
Prior to Wednesday’s attack, Agosto survived an attempt on his life last month. His house was also strafed sometime last year.
Bagarinao said that Agosto escaped without a scratch in both cases.
Despite the two attacks, Agosto did not heed advice from police officers to move to another house.
Family members have also reportedly asked him to stop volunteering, but he continued because he loved the job.
“As far as peace and order is concerned, dako gyud to siya og natabang (he contributed a lot). He was just like one of us except that he was not a policeman,” said Balamban Police Chief Anthony Bagarinao.
Bagarinao told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that they had to use all their civilian volunteers because they lacked police officers.
Most active
He said Agosto was one of the most active.
Their last major accomplishment was the uprooting of 20,000 stalks that covered three sitios in a mountain barangay last July.
Bagarinao said Agosto was one of their guides in going to the plantation. “Kursonada gyud to siya. Mudakop man gani to bisag way pulis nga kauban (He made arrests even when there was no policeman with him),” Bagarinao said.
Fiesta duty
Aside from helping them in uprooting marijuana plants, Agosto also tipped police of the presence of wanted persons and other illegal activities in the town.
Agosto had just dropped off his wife and daughter Rhea in his house in Barangay Cantuod at almost 11 p.m. He was planning to return to the town proper and help the police in securing the town for the fiesta.
But just as his wife and daughter stepped away from his motorcycle, a man lobbed a cacao-type grenade at him.
The explosion shook most of the residents nearby but no one dared come out of their homes to check what happened.
Already wounded, Agosto called on his family for help.
But a man with a cloth mask appeared and shot him about five times to finish him off.
The man even warned Ronel to step away because they were only after his father.
The municipal medico-legal officer, Dr. Roderick Asagra, said Agosto had five gunshot wounds in the back and three in his head.
Based on the three slugs and empty shells found, the police deduce that the gunman used a .45 pistol.
Casualties
The grenade’s safety pin was found outside the barbed wire fence of Agosto’s backyard, while the safety lever was found inside the fence.
The grenade rolled all the way to the front of the house.
Aside from hitting members of Agosto’s family, the shrapnel killed a cat and wounded the family’s pet dog.
Shrapnel also bored holes in the walls and roof of the house and on Agosto’s motorcycle.
Agosto’s son Reggie also said his father’s wallet and his parents’ cellular phones were taken.
Aside from Agosto’s active participation in anti-crime campaigns, police are also trying to find out if anyone held a grudge against him.
But neighbors vouched for him, saying he had no enemies in the neighborhood.
“Hilomon man to siya. Kon naa kay pangutana, igo ra siya motubag og di na siya magdugang-dugang og istorya (He was the silent type, who answered questions plainly and resisted the urge to speculate),” Bagarinao said.
Dumped
Also, at noon yesterday, the body of a man who had reportedly been executed was found on a cliff in Sitio Buya, Barangay Prenza, Balamban.
A woman who just got off a motorcycle-for-hire was shocked to see someone’s foot sticking out of the shrubs.
The woman was on her way to her mother’s house and got off by the makeshift waiting shed at the side of the Cebu Transcentral Highway.
A Sun.Star Cebu team passed by just as the police responded to the alarm.
Placido Paradero, a resident of the area, told Sun.Star Cebu he heard about five gunshots at 10 p.m. Wednesday. But they were too afraid to check. It was too dark to see if there was anyone moving in the area.
The next thing they knew, the man was found dead less than two meters from the highway.
PO2 Cesar Climaco believes the man, whom residents could not recognize, was sitting on the bench of the waiting shed when he was shot.
Because the shed was beside a steep cliff, passersby did not see him among the thick shrubs.
The man, who remains unidentified, had on a yellow pair of slippers, camouflage shorts, a red T-shirt and a piece of cloth tied around his left wrist.
Three empty shells fired from a .45 pistol were found two meters away from the body.
