Thursday, February 08, 2007
Customs official's slay: 3 leads chased
CEBU CITY -- Three angles are being looked into as possible motive in the shooting to death of a Bureau of Customs (BOC) official last Tuesday night in Lapu-Lapu City.
Jason Alcantara's killing may have been related to rivalry at his office, a business transaction or a love affair.
The Lapu-Lapu City police, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Central Visayas are working on the case.
Jason Alcantara, 27, assistant chief of the Customs-Peza Clearing Office (CPCO), was driving home from a basketball game about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday when a yellow Aura motorcycle with no plate number moved close to his left along Sudtunggan road in Barangay Basak.
The back-rider then shot Alcantara several times. The customs official was around 200 meters from his home in Phase 2 of Better Living subdivision.
The ambush left Alcantara slumped on the steering wheel of his Honda Civic.
Homicide investigator PO3 William Homoc said a bullet pierced Alcantara's left armpit and exited his right side. Another hit his chin. Two other bullets lodged in the victim's left arm.
Residents did not hear gunshots, leading police to believe the gunman used a silencer.
But witnesses saw the suspects' motorcycle sped towards Sitio Suba Masulog, also in Barangay Basak, a small road to the left leading to the highway in Barangay Marigondon.
Seeing the bloodied Alcantara on the steering wheel, with the car's engine still running, resident Dondie Paguna called the police at 8:50 p.m.
Duty officer PO3 Joseph Damasco said Elmo Cacha and one named Arnold, reportedly a custom employee, rushed Alcantara to the Mactan Doctors' Hospital at 9:05 p.m.
Alcantara died two hours and 40 minutes later.
This is the second shooting incident and the third customs official gunned down since 2003.
Last July 24, 2003 two gunmen sprayed bullets on deputy district collector Eduardo "Wewe" Lao and customs appraiser Bennett Soreño in an ambush near the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 on Osmeña Blvd. in Cebu City.
"We are still looking at the workplace to see if the killing was work-related or personal," said Lapu-Lapu City Police Chief Louie Oppus.
Police found four .45 shells and a deformed slug at the crime scene.
NBI 7 Director Medardo de Lemos sent agents to Lapu-Lapu for some "intelligence gathering" Wednesday morning.
He said they came back with some "good leads" but he refused to give details.
A few hours before the attack, Alcantara was the star player of the 2007 Collector's Basketball Cup at the Mandaue City Sports Complex. He was a member of the district collector's team against the wharfinger's team.
Conrado Abarintos, Port of Cebu chief cashier and tournament chairman, said Alcantara made four three-point shots that made the district collector's team win.
After the game, Alcantara and his teammates had dinner at Mandaue Fiesta Food past 8 p.m.
Later, Alcantara, driving his Honda Civic, left for Basak, Lapu-Lapu City. He dropped off his teammate Christopher Sison and then proceeded to his residence at Better Living Subdivision.
His colleagues at the BOC suspect that Alcantara was killed in relation to a big-time deal that went bad.
A customs official said that Alcantara studied customs administration at the University of Cebu and started working as personero (processor) of a customs broker who catered mostly to Mactan Economic Zone locators in 2001.
He worked his up at the BOC starting 2003, first as a CPCO staff.
Alcantara was linked to smuggling activities but he denied this in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu last year. (OCP/EOB/With KNR)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (February 8, 2007 issue)
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