LESS than an hour after posting bail for an illegal possession of firearms case, a robbery suspect was gunned down vigilante-style on McArthur Blvd. in Barangay Carreta, Cebu City yesterday afternoon.
Brando A. Babao, 41, of Barangay Valladolid, Carcar City, Cebu, died of multiple gunshot wounds, mostly in the head, when two men on board a motorcycle peppered bullets on the taxicab he and his family were in.
Brando’s 65-year-old mother Elena, who was sitting at the back seat beside him, is confined at the Chong Hua Hospital for a gunshot wound in the left leg. Taxi driver Roel D. Siasar, 29, is being treated at the Cebu City Medical Center for a wound in his right leg.
A 12-year-old ambulant vendor, who witnessed the incident, told Sun.Star Cebu that the perpetrators were on board a black motorcycle with no plate number.
Both the driver and the passenger, who served as the triggerman, did not wear a helmet but had a black cloth wrapped around their heads.
Brando was one of four robbery suspects arrested by operatives of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station for illegal possession of firearms last week. His companions were identified as Felixberto “Mamerto or Jun” Aldemita, 25, of Guadalupe, Carcar City; Edmund Punay, 23, of Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City; and Alwin “Win” Bertoldo, 23, of Manta-longon, Barili.
Brando was charged after he failed to show documents of ownership on the Magnum .357 revolver with five rounds of ammunition taken from him.
At 2:30 p.m. yesterday, he was released from the detention cell of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station after posting a P40,000 bail bond before Judge Victor Teves Sr. of Regional Trial Court Branch 54.
From the police station, Brando, his mother Elena and siblings Dexter and Desideria boarded Worldwide Taxi (GWR 213). His other brother Marvel, 44, and two other relatives boarded a separate taxi.
They were reportedly heading to the South Bus Terminal.
Marvel, in an interview with reporters, said he was not able to see the shooting because the taxi they were in was a truck away from the taxi boarded by Brando.
“Nahibong na lang ko kay nanagan ang mga tawo paingon diri unya pagtan-aw nako sa taxi mao man ang gisakyan nila Brando (I was wondering why people started to gather around the taxi and when I looked, Brando was inside it),” Marvel said. He said his brother was a good person.
“Sakit. Sakit kaayo. Ginoo nalang mag-igo nila (It hurts to lose a brother. I leave it up to God to punish his killer),” he said.
He also brushed aside allegation that his brother was a member of a robbery group.
Brando left behind two children and a wife, who is six months pregnant.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, the witness said the taxi boarded by Brando stopped as the nearby traffic light at the intersection of McArthur Blvd. and General Maxilom Ave. turned red.
The witness was heading toward the taxi to sell water to its passengers, when a man with a gun alighted from a motorcycle and pumped bullets at the back of the taxi.
“Minaug ang nag-angkas unya pusil. Nagtuo gani ko ako ang pusilon, mihupo pud ko. Dili man makita ang nawong kay nag-purong sila og itom (At first I thought the gunman was after me. I couldn’t see their faces because they tied a black cloth around their heads),” the witness said.
After the shooting, the perpetrators sped away and turned right to General Maxilom Ave., the witness said.
Personnel from the Scene of the Crime Operations 7 recovered seven empty shells from a 9mm and a slug of an undetermined caliber.
PO3 Roger Nedamo, team leader of Homicide Section investigators who responded to the crime, said they are looking into the possibility that Brando was killed by his fellow gang members.
Nedamo said they are coordinating with the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station to help solve the crime.
A reliable source told Sun.Star Superbalita that Brando disclosed vital information about his group and its members to police.
Lapu-Lapu Police Station Chief Louie Oppus, in a separate interview, was surprised to learn about the incident.
“That’s a sad thing nga nahitabo na niya (what happened to Brando),” Oppus said. (With reports from FQB of Sun.Star Superbalita)
