Monday, October 09, 2006
Gunmen finish off 4 ex-cons in 24 hours
By Jovy S. Taghoy
CEBU CITY -- As though on a rampage, unidentified killers in Cebu City gunned down four former convicts over the weekend.
Less than 24 hours after the killing of Dante de la Torre, 45, in Barangay Hipodromo past 4 p.m. Saturday, three other people were killed in the city.
The victims were identified as Teopanis V. Madayan, 31, of Barangay Babag II, Reynaldo Cañete, 38, of Sitio Mahayahay, Barangay Mabolo, and Emmanuel "Butchoy" Alburo, 24, of Barangay Tejero.
Homicide investigators confirmed there are now 172 victims of the vigilante-style killings in Cebu City since late December 2004.
A 12-year-old boy was also taken to the Cebu City Medical Center after he was hit in the chest by a stray bullet during the attack on Cañete.
Madayan was killed while he was drinking coffee in a stall along Gen. Gines St., Barangay Suba at 10:20 p.m. last Saturday.
Stall owner Rosita Aban told investigators two men on a motorcycle arrived in the area. The rider got off the motorcycle and shot Madayan at close range.
As other people nearby scampered to safety, Madayan slumped on the bench, instantly killed by three gunshots in the head, abdomen and right side.
Investigators found three empty shells and two slugs from a .45 pistol at the scene.
Madayan's uncle Leopoldo Bordo said the victim had been jailed at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) for drugs. He was released last year.
At 9:55 a.m. Sunday, Cañete was attacked by two men on a red motorcycle while he was having breakfast at a pungko-pungko (a streetside eatery) along Juan Luna Ave., North Reclamation Area in Barangay Mabolo.
Cañete was shot four times. He was hit in his left temple and the abdomen. He died on the spot.
A 12-year-old boy, who was helping his uncle attend to the pungko-pungko business, was hit by a stray bullet in his chest.
SPO2 Rey Cuyos, homicide investigator, said the boy was still under observation at the hospital Sunday night.
Four empty shells of .45 pistol were recovered at the crime scene.
Rowena Paras, 31, Cañete's live-in partner, said she was across the street when the attack took place. She and Cañete sold bottled mineral water and candies in the area.
Paras said Cañete had been to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa for illegal possession of a firearm. He was released and went back to Cebu City June last year.
Paras said she and Cañete earned their keep as ambulant vendors. She said it is unfair for her live-in partner to be killed without any reason.
"Gumagapang kami sa hirap para mabuhay. Diyos na lang ang bahala sa kanila (We are poor. I leave the killers up to God)," Paras said.
Paras said Cañete hadn't mention to her any threat on his life.
About 30 minutes after Cañete was shot, another ex-convict fell, this time in the neighboring McArthur Blvd., Barangay Tejero.
Homicide investigators found the body of Emmanuel "Butchoy" Alburo, 24, in a vulcanizing shop with two gunshot wounds in the head and one in his right forearm.
Alburo, a polio victim, was reportedly a snatcher preying on jeepney passengers along McArthur Blvd. and Villagonzalo I, Tejero.
Alburo, who worked in the vulcanizing shop, was fixing a flat tire when a green motorcycle with two men on board stopped near him.
The rider did not disembark from the motorcycle when he shot Alburo three times. The men fled towards Plaza Independencia.
Investigators found three empty shells and one slug of a .45 pistol at the crime scene. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(October 9, 2006 issue)
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