Three hours before Suda was killed, two men on a motorcycle also shot a flower shop worker in Banilad. Police suspect the two shootings are related.
Bienvenido Quijano Jr., 24, succumbed to three gunshot wounds in the head and body. He was walking on Hernan Cortes Avenue when shot past 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Police suspect the killers of Suda and Quijano are the same because aside from the motorcycle, a .45 pistol was also used in both shootings, done only a kilometer apart.
Suda died of multiple gunshot wounds.
“The attacks have a resemblance. Both were same in build and height and would sometimes wear a jacket. If it is true that Quijano did not have enemies, probably he was a victim of mistaken identity,” homicide investigator PO2 Rey Manatad said.
Manatad said Quijano’s parents could not recall their son getting into trouble with anyone.
The Japanese Consulate has called the Casuntingan Police Precinct requesting for a copy of the investigation report and for the immediate solution of the murder.
Police have difficulty in getting witnesses who could give a detailed description of the suspects in the two killings.
Suda returned to his car after opening the steel gate of his house at past 1 a.m. when two men on a motorcycle arrived. The driver fired a shot but missed. Suda ducked and took cover behind the vehicle.
But the motorcycle passenger, who wore a ski mask, alighted and casually walked toward Suda then shot him several times at close range.
Suda fell face down. A slug and nine empty shells from a .45 pistol were found near his body.
“We may able to prove that we have the same culprits in the two killings through a ballistic test of the recovered empty shells,” Manatad said.
Business rivalry and a failed relationship with a Filipina live-in partner were among the angles the police are looking into.
Suda was part owner and chief cook of Kamekishi restaurant in Barangay Cabancalan.
Suda’s death has worried Japanese nationals in the country, saying their compatriots might be concerned about their safety if the killings continue and they decide to come to the Philippines.
Akira Oka, former president of the Japanese Association of Cebu Inc., said that three days ago, another Japanese was also murdered in San Fernando, Pampanga.
“Suda is not our member and we do not know him well. But if this killing of our nationals will continue, there might be a time that our other countrymen in Japan will not come and this (will have a) negative (impact on) the tourism industry,” he said in a phone interview.
Their group has 250 members.
While attacks against Japanese nationals stem from issues like money or women, Oka said these crimes still have a negative effect on tourism.
He said the motives may have been personal, but the police should find a way to guarantee their safety. (AIV)
