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Friday, March 05, 2004
Leyte mayor, son shot dead in Cebu
By Allan I. Varquez, Karen M. Flores & Garry Cabotaje
CEBU CITY -- The mayor of Hindang, Southern Leyte who came to visit his family in Cebu City was shot dead, along with his 28-year-old son, not far from their apartment Thursday afternoon.
Two unidentified gunmen fired at Mayor Roy Jumao-as, 56, as he and his son Jake alighted at 4:45 p.m. from a taxi they took from the pier area.
Father and son died from several gunshot wounds at 5:50 p.m., less than an hour after witnesses rushed them to the Cebu Velez General Hospital.
A cigarette vendor said the two gunmen were drinking softdrinks at a small store across the Jumao-as apartment on D. Jakosalem St. before the shooting.
They waited for more than 30 minutes, but when they saw the mayor and his son getting out from the taxi, they casually walked behind the mayor.
"After a few steps, one of the men shot the mayor. When his son looked to see who fired, the other man shot him too," said the witness, whose identity is being withheld for his security.
Another witness said that as the mayor fell face down, his wounded son crawled towards him and covered him with his body.
But the two culprits walked closer to them and fired several shots, before casually walking towards Benedicto St., where a white taxi with tinted windows was waiting for them.
2nd in region
It was the first case of possibly election-related violence in Cebu City, and the second in less than a month in Central Visayas.
Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado and his driver narrowly escaped from an ambush in downtown Tagbilaran City last Feb. 13.
All the special Philippine National Police (PNP) units in the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) were ordered to work together to identify the assailants of the Jumao-as mayor and son.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Deputy Director for Operations Ronald Roderos vowed to conduct thorough investigation on the killing, including the possibility that it was politically motivated.
Jumao-as was elected mayor of Hindang in 2001. He used to be a member of the defunct Philippine Constabulary and later served as a jail guard of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) in Cebu City.
Jojo Montesclaros of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, who also served as a BBRC jail guard from 1990 to 1993, said that he and Jumao-as were together until 1991, when then warden Gaudioso Navales recommended Jumao-as' dismissal for being absent without official leave.
"He was just starting a business in Leyte and was often absent, but I don't know if he was indeed dismissed," Montesclaros said.
'Imported'
Police investigators are looking into political or business rivalries as possible motives and described the attack as "professionally well-planned."
Roderos, however, considered the ambush an isolated case and said there is no way it would affect the peace and order in Cebu City with the onset of the election period.
The twin murders are not automatically a point against Cebu in assessing the situation here in relation to its tendency toward election-related violence.
Regional Attorney Marshall Rubia of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) 7 said although Cebu is already considered an area of concern, Comelec officials and the police still have to assess if the incident was politically motivated to merit the poll body's concern.
Further, Rubia said in a phone interview that the incident may have been "imported" from Leyte, which belongs to Region 8, and may have nothing to do with Cebu at all.
As the May 10 elections nears, the Comelec and PNP meet almost weekly or as often as needed for coordination. Rubia said when they meet again, likely next week, the shooting will be discussed.
Waiting
Roderos suspects that the culprits must have tailed the mayor all the way from Hindang to Cebu.
Homicide chief investigator Mario Monilar thinks otherwise, as he suspects the culprits were local boys and that they were contacted through mobile phone about Jumao-as' arrival in Cebu City.
Leyte Gov. Remedios Petilla said over radio dyLA that Jumao-as had told her about a death threat he had received.
Homicide policemen saw two gunshot wounds in Jumao-as' chest and one in the back, while his son was wounded once in the chest and thrice in different parts of his body.
Operatives of the PNP Scene of the Crime Operations Unit recovered eight empty shells and one slug for a .45.
Hours earlier, about 2:30 p.m., Jumao-as' elder son Gaga, who has resettled in Mandaue City, was standing at the same site where his father was shot.
After an hour of waiting, Gaga took a taxi home.
"If he had waited for his father and brother to arrive, all three of them could have died," said one witness.
(March 5, 2004 issue)
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