Friday, May 26, 2006
Couple who worked as pimps executed
CEBU CITY -- A couple who has been linked to the sex trade was shot dead last Wednesday night at a busy downtown intersection less than 10 blocks away from a police precinct.
Police investigators have yet to get their full names, or arrest their killers.
The man, an alleged ex-convict whom police identified only as Negro, had the name "Jimmy Lahoy-Lahoy" tattooed on his back. He was 5'7", of medium build and appeared to be in his mid-40s.
He and his live-in partner were standing at the corner of Sanciangko St. and Osmeña Blvd. in Barangay Kalubihan when two men on a yellow motorcycle stopped near them, witnesses told investigators.
The attack occurred at 10:30 p.m. It brought to 160 the number of persons killed in vigilante fashion in Cebu City since December 2004.
A neighbor and friend of the couple, Alberto Limbaga, confirmed that Negro was an ex-convict who spent time inside the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center for a robbery case. Mercy, he added, had been detained for vagrancy-that's the complaint police usually file against sex workers and their pimps.
"Mamaligya na siya og mga sunglasses pero usahay modula pod na siya og panulis (He sold sunglasses, but he also committed some robberies)," Limbaga said over TV Patrol Visayas.
Faceless
Homicide investigator SPO2 Rey Cuyos said the attacks could be another case of a vigilante-style killing because both victims have criminal records.
The fact that their attackers concealed their faces and the reluctance of witnesses to testify are among the factors that made vigilante-style killings difficult to solve, he said.
Witnesses said that Negro, who took on odd jobs, also worked as a dispatcher for jeepneys. After taking bullets in the head and chest, he died on the spot.
His live-in-partner, identified as Mercy, 35, was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center, but later succumbed to gunshot wounds in the head and left hand. She was said to have worked as a pimp.
Operatives from the Mobile Patrol Group, Crime Suppression Unit and elements of the Carbon Police Station, who were the first to arrive at the crime scene, found Negro's body lying a few meters from a hotel.
No mercy
Personnel from the Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco) and homicide investigators recovered three empty shells and one slug from a .45 pistol.
Witnesses said that as soon as the motorbike stopped, the one riding in the back got down and shot Negro.
Negro tried to run for cover, but the gunman caught up with him and fired another shot.
Mercy, who followed Negro and the gunman, asked him to spare her life.
The gunman, however, shot her. He then returned to the motorcycle and fled towards the city's uptown area.
Witnesses said the attackers concealed their faces with bonnets and helmets. Few details were available: The driver wore a white T-shirt, while the gunman wore a black one, witnesses said.
Suspected vigilantes have gunned down at least 160 people in Cebu City, most of them with criminal records, since Dec. 22, 2004.
The attacks began a day after Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced he would reward anyone who could "permanently disable or neutralize" criminals. Osmeña later said he may have "inspired" the vigilantes, but that he did not approve of summary executions at all.
The Cebu City Police Office has been criticized for their failure to end the attacks or arrest the culprits, and no less than Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has appealed for an end to the attacks.
The homicide section, however, explained they are not sitting on the cases but attributed their failure to the reluctance of witnesses to cooperate in the investigation. (JST/With AIV)
(May 26, 2006 issue)
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