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Saturday, April 12, 2008
Series of shootings in Carcar City kills 3
By Elias O. Baquero
With Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- Three persons were killed in what is seen as a series of shooting incidents between a group of neighborhood toughies in a drug-affected barangay in Carcar City.
Manuel Bacalan, 22, died on the spot while Roel Bargamento, 35, and Elmer Alcuizar, 49, died on the way to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
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Bacalan and Bargamento were with a group of people drinking under a jackfruit tree in Sitio San Roque, Barangay Liburon around 10:20 last Thursday night.
A man with a cloth mask over his face allegedly crept from behind, fired at them and then fled.
Alcuizar was reportedly a victim of a stray bullet.
On his way to hospital, Bargamento allegedly whispered to his brother the name of his assailant.
Superintendent Teofilo Siclot, Carcar City police chief, said they are now building up a case against the man Bargamento identified before he died.
Neighbors of the three now fear for their lives because police failed to arrest the suspect, who remained unidentified as of Friday afternoon.
Two shooting incidents, one in December and one in January, have already taken place in the barangay.
Marylou Castañares, Liburon chief barangay tanod, said the death of Bargamento, Bacalan and Alquizar brings to 16 the total number of people killed in Liburon within a span of 10 years. These were mostly unresolved.
Motive
Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Carmelo Valmoria had asked Siclot to prioritize solving these two shootings when the latter assumed office last April 1.
However, police have yet to establish if the motive for last Thursday night's shooting is drug-related or a result of grudges that escalated into retaliations.
Found in the crime scene were six empty shells, a .45 pistol loaded with six bullets in its magazine and a .357 revolver with five bullets in its chamber.
The two firearms were on a bench under the tree.
Police believe the two guns belonged to two of the victims.
Police also theorize that there might have been more than one killer. One of the assailants could have reloaded his .357 revolver after the shooting, hence the six empty .357 shells left behind.
SPO1 Joseph Quimod of the Carcar City Police Station said they will send the spent cartridges to the PNP Crime Laboratory for examination.
Benigno Alimasag, Bacalan's stepfather, however said police are not aware that he was able to gather 14 empty shells from where the gunman stood.
Meanwhile, Quimod said they are checking Bacalan's background because he was reportedly just released from jail.
As for Alcuizar, he only reportedly joined the group to drink.
Witnesses said the assailant only targeted Bacalan and Bargamento. Alquizar, who was standing outside his house, was hit by a stray bullet.
Gemma S. Alimasag, a cousin and neighbor of Bargamento, said she saw a tall man wearing a fatigue jacket beside the toilet of Bargamento's house.
He shot the victims, who were about eight meters away, with an Ingram (machine pistol).
Gemma said the gunman passed by her house as he fled, but she could not recognize him because he was wearing a bonnet. He also fired another shot that hit her house.
Carcar City Mayor Patrick Barcenas said he went to the crime scene Friday and told residents to cooperate with police and give statements if they knew anything.
More personnel
The mayor wants to put up an outpost in the interior part of Liburon.
Siclot, however, said he will need more personnel if he is to assign police officers to the outpost.
For now, he can only spare one or two officers because there are other critical areas in the city that need their attention.
He and Barcenas have arranged a meeting with Valmoria, barangay officials and the Regional Mobile Group on Monday to see how they can address the situation.
Siclot said he hopes to solve the shooting before another shooting occurs. This is because relatives of the victims have received text messages warning them they will be next, he said. According to the test messages, their end will come within this month.
SPO3 Jonas Pananganan, homicide investigator of the Carcar City Police, confirmed that there were already 16 deaths in the barangay, but said that some of cases have been solved and the suspects charged in court, even though they continue to remain at large.
Liburon Barangay Captain Alberto Lawas said he would request Mayor Barcenas to facilitate the creation of a police substation in the barangay, which has a population of more than 7,000.
Terrorized
Since December, Liburon residents have been terrorized by the presence of armed men, sometimes riding in motorcycles.
That month, Anderson Tangaja was shot dead allegedly by Fermin Mangubat.
Last January 24, Mangubat was shot dead in broad daylight by Ryan Saducas at the waiting shed near the Castañares residence.
As a result of these incidents, the mayor wants his police officers and barangay tanods to fully implement the curfew.
Both Valmoria and Siclot support this call.
Valmoria explained that his support for the implementation of a curfew did not mean it was no longer safe outdoors, but to prevent them from being victims of crimes.
Based on their crime clock, most shooting and robbery incidents happen between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.
However, he said they could only implement a curfew if a town or city has an ordinance. (Sun.Star Cebu)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (April 12, 2008 issue)
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