TWO suspected drug pushers were killed in Consolacion and San Francisco, Camotes last Saturday afternoon.
On the same day, a doctor was caught by a police officer receiving shabu from a dealer inside his clinic in Barangay Gabi, Cordova.
An unknown gunman killed suspected drug pusher Rolando Blanco, 41, in Sitio Katugasan, Barangay Casili, Consolacion at 12:30 p.m.
At 5:30 p.m., police killed Marchel Andrade, who was in his mid-30s, after the latter allegedly attempted to shoot at them in Sitio Kanlayog, Barangay Santa Cruz, San Francisco.
San Francisco Police Chief Janus Giangan led his team in conducting Oplan Tokhang in the village. As they were approaching a group, the suspect reportedly drew out his .38 revolver and aimed it at the officers.
One of the officers immediately shot Andrade in the body. Police brought him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In a subdivision in Barangay Gabi, Cordova, PO1 Ricky Pepito arrested a doctor after he saw him receiving two sachets of shabu from a dealer, who eluded arrest.
Pepito, who was not wearing his police uniform at that time, was at the clinic for his insomnia. He later noticed somebody come in and hand the sachets to the doctor.
The officer immediately arrested the doctor.
In the Consolacion incident, a team of investigators led by PO3 Dindo Tajanlangit failed to recover any evidence in the crime scene. They only found blood stain on the ground.
Gunman
Neighbors rushed Blanco to the Eversly Childs Sanitarium in Barangay Jagobiao, Mandaue City, where Dr. Lucy Bialen declared him dead on arrival.
Before the incident, neighbors saw the victim standing on the side of the road in Katugasan, talking to a friend.
Blanco failed to notice the gunman, who was wearing a bonnet, approaching him. The assassin, when he was near the victim, opened fire at him several times.
His friend was left unharmed.
After shooting the victim, the assailant boarded a motorcycle driven by another masked person. Residents told the police the vehicle had no license plate attached to its rear.
Investigation conducted by Tajanlangit’s team showed that the killing could be drug-related.
The gunman is still unknown.
For the last five months, homicide investigators in Cebu City are working overtime to shed light on some of the unsolved killings of drug personalities.
SPO2 Rommel Bancog, a homicide investigator of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) encouraged the families of the victims to help solve the crimes.
Relatives
“We are doing our best but we need the relatives or the closest kin of the victims to show willingness in getting the suspect convicted,” Bancog told Sun.star Cebu.
Bancog handles more than 10 drug-related cases categorized as deaths under investigation in the Homicide Section.
“How can the case prosper when some of the families just let it be?” Bancog said in Cebuano.
Since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office last July 1, drug personalities are being killed in the country.
In Region 7 alone, there are now 201 drug personalities killed by unidentified assailants.
Bancog said they always get the contact number of the victim’s relatives to be used in their investigation.
“But they often don’t answer the call or they say they don’t have money to file a case,” he said.
PO3 Nicolo Gonzales, another homicide investigator, said that if the relatives worry about the lawyer’s fee, there’s the Cebu City Public Attorney’s Office.
“If they want help, there are many people who will help, including us,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales said that they can’t force the family to file a case. A sister of a suspected theft and drug user in Maria Christina Ext. texted Gonzales that they won’t file charges.
“Sir, Ginoo na lay mag-igo sa nagpatay sa akong igsoon (We leave everything to the Lord),” the text read.
In an earlier incident, the family of Annalou Llaguno, the alleged ex-wife of Eastern drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and girlfriend of slain drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, also opted not to file a case against her killers.
“If there’s a witness who is not afraid to stand in court then our office is open to them. We will surely help them,” Bancog said.