Tuesday, November 04, 2008 2 of 3 slain men had jail records By Jovy S. Taghoy-Gerodias Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TWO of the three men who died in the alleged shootout with the members of Cebu City Police Office–Task Force Motorsiklo were identified yesterday by their respective families and relatives.
The driver of the motorcycle was identified as Abran Gabutan Gabato, 28, of H. Labra St., Sitio Sandayong, Barangay Guada-lupe, Cebu City.
One of the two passengers was identified as Werner Gabucan Ponce, 31, alias “Botong” of Sitio Nareja, Lower Kalunasan.
The other passenger was initially identified as a certain Totong, who was reportedly a friend of Gabato and a trisikad driver. The Homicide Section has the possible real name of Totong but would not release it yet pending a verification with his family.
Families of Gabato and Ponce went to the funeral homes and identified the two men after seeing photos of the motorcycle in newspapers yesterday. They also said both Gabato and Ponce have been jailed for different offenses.
Officials from the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said the shootout last Sunday afternoon was a legitimate operation.
CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador and his deputy director for operations Pablo Labra II, in separate interviews, said the incident on M.J. Cuenco Ave. that ended in the death of the three men served as a “clear warning” to motorcycle-riding criminals and violators that the police will not hesitate to “use force if necessary” against them.
Labra and Senior Insp. George Ylanan led the operation last Sunday.
“They were armed. The rules of engagement were followed. It was a legitimate checkpoint operation,” Comendador said.
A caliber .357 revolver with three bullets and one dud ammunition and a .38 caliber revolver with two bullets, one dud ammunition and two spent shells, and a knife were recovered from the three men.
Both Comendador and Labra said they will sustain the campaign against motorcycle-riding criminals and violators.
“We mean business here. We will implement the law, and if it is necessary for us to use force we will do that under all circumstances provided by law,” Labra said.
Comendador and Labra said it is the right of the families of the three men to question the shootout.
If an investigation will be initiated by a separate government agency or independent investigating agency, the police said they would welcome such move.
Sun.Star Cebu called up Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Nivel Hills, Lahug last night to inquire if Totong was already identified. But a staff of the funeral homes said no one has claimed his body yet.
Trouble
Cirila, Gabato’s aunt, said her nephew was not jailed at the Cebu City Jail but was detained at the Guadalupe Police Station several times for creating trouble in their neighborhood.
“Medyo maldito gyud ni siya. Mopalit og away ba, kay maluoy man dayon siya (He was a troublemaker. But he got into fights because he defended others),” Cirila said.
Cirila said she and the other members of the family learned about the killing through newspaper reports where a picture of the motorcycle with the plate number was published.
She said she was not aware if Gabato was armed last Sunday.
Cirila said she also could not comment on the alleged shootout. Commission on Human Rights 7 Director Alejandro Alonso also refused to comment on the incident.
Cirila said the family would decide whether to seek the assistance of the CHR after Gabato’s burial.
She said their priority is to bring Gabato to his final rest.
Nimfa Ramirez, 28, Ponce’s live-in partner, said, in a separate interview, that she could not believe that Ponce had engaged in a shootout with the police.
She said when Ponce left the house at 10 a.m. Sunday, she made it a point to check that the latter did not bring a firearm.
She, however, said that she did not know if Ponce was given a firearm by a friend he met during that day.
Nimfa said Ponce told her that he would be meeting his friend, but failed to say who it was. The next thing she knew, Ponce was already dead.
The couple has two children, aged three and 10.
Nimfa, however, admitted that Ponce was jailed twice at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center or the Cebu City Jail.
She said Ponce was jailed from 1999 to 2005 for a murder case. He went back to the city jail in 2006 for a drug-related case. He was released the following year after posting bail.
She said Ponce was also a former leader of a group called POGS or Phi Omega Gamma.
Senior Insp. Michael Anthony Bastes, Theft and Robbery Section chief, said POGS was previously linked to several crimes, like murders, homicides, robberies, Akyat Bahay operations and snatching. In 1999, the membership of POGs had reached about 300.
Records from the Cebu City Jail revealed that Ponce was jailed thrice since 1995.
Ponce was first jailed in Oct. 10, 1995 for a homicide case where he was sentenced to serve two to six years.
But in Dec. 1995, he was released and transferred to the rehabilitation center for youth offenders in Argao, Cebu because he was still a minor.
On Jan. 22, 1999, Ponce was jailed for two counts of murder. One case was later dismissed. On the other case, Ponce got acquitted. He was released last Jan. 6, 2005.
Last April 10, 2006, Ponce was arrested and jailed after he was charged with possession of shabu, a violation of Sec. 11, Art. 2 of Republic Act 9165 (the Comprehensive
Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).
He was arrested during a checkpoint by the police.
On Aug. 27, 2007, Ponce was released from the city jail after posting bail.
