Thursday, October 16, 2008
Police ‘asset’ shot to death
By Jovy S. Taghoy-Gerodias
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A WEEK after walking out of a detention cell, a motorcycle driver was gunned down in Barangay Camputhaw, Cebu City before noon yesterday.
Mark Flores Pulvera, alias Macoy, 32, died on the spot after bullets ripped through his face and hand.
The killing was carried out at 11:45 a.m. yesterday along F. Sotto Drive, Barangay Camputhaw.
A male relative of Pulvera showed a Sun.Star Cebu photographer a Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) identification card issued to “Mark F. Pulveras”.
Homicide Section Chief Mario Monilar told Sun. Star Cebu his office will check with the CIDG unit in Cebu to verify if the ID was authentic. Monilar said he also received information that Pulvera had worked as an asset of the Fuente Police Station, but was already inactive.
Initial investigation by a Homicide Section team led by PO3 Geoffrey Gutual showed that Pulvera was sitting on a bamboo chair when a black motorcycle boarded by two men arrived.
Helmet-covered
The passenger alighted and shot Pulvera thrice. He died on the spot, still holding the key of a motorcycle that he drove for a living.
He is survived by a one-year-old son from live-in partner Maria Niña Nilles.
The gunman went back to the motorcycle, which sped off toward Gorordo Ave.
Both the driver and the gunman reportedly wore black jackets and helmets that covered their faces.
Three spent shells fired from a caliber .45 were found at the crime scene.
Nilles, in a mobile phone interview, appealed for justice for her partner.
“Kon kinsa man gani mo, wa mo’y katungod mopatay sa akong bana (You had no right to kill my husband, whoever you are),” Nilles said. She already had a potential suspect in mind, but would not disclose the name yet.
Useful tip
At least four anti-illegal drug operations were reportedly conducted by the Fuente police based on information Pulvera had given them, PO3 Gutual said.
Gutual and Monilar said a drug-related angle is one possible motive they are investigating.
Fuente Police Station Chief Arnel Banzon, in a separate interview, confirmed that Pulvera used to be an asset of the police station.
Banzon, who took the post as commander of the police station last month, said that based on the information he gathered from his men, Pulvera has been inactive for a long time.
The last time Pulvera was at a police station was last Sept. 29, but not as an asset. He was detained after being arrested for complaints of alarm and scandal and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunitions, Banzon said.
He was released from the detention cell last Oct. 8, after the alarm and scandal complaint was dismissed. The illegal possession of a firearm and ammunitions charge is pending in court.
Hacking
Meanwhile, three people, including an eight-year-old boy, were seriously injured in a hacking incident in Daanbantayan, Cebu.
The Daanbantayan Police Station, headed by Insp. Bonifacio Arriesgado, identified the victims as Cipriana Casas, 55, her daughter Rashed, 22, and her grandson John (real name withheld, as he is a minor).
Suspect Radley Adarlo, 18, was immediately arrested by the police.
He initially denied the allegation, claiming he was drunk during that time and couldn’t remember how he had behaved. However, he reportedly later admitted the crime and told the police where he hid the bolo.
An attempted rape is the primary motive the police are looking into, Arriesgado said.
The attack occurred past 1 a.m. yesterday in Sitio Bagay, Barangay Matab-ang, Daanbantayan, Cebu.
Adarlo allegedly entered the victims’ house but, when caught by Rashed, attacked the three with a bolo.
Rashed’s hands were wounded as she tried to parry the blows aimed at her head. Her mother was injured in the head and face, while the boy was hit in the back.
Rashed, though, managed to run outside. Barangay tanod Joel Yaun spotted her and arrested the suspect.
All the three victims were taken to Daanbantayan District Hospital. Cipriana was later transferred to a hospital in Cebu City, as she was declared in critical condition.
Frustrated murder complaints will be filed today against Adarlo. (JTG)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (October 16, 2008 issue)
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