THE younger brother of Negros Island Region (NIR) top drug suspect Ricky Serenio was gunned down by two unidentified men on board a private vehicle at Purok Sampaguita 1, Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City Monday morning.
Senior Inspector Wilfredo Benoman Jr., head of Police Station 8, identified the fatality as Wilmar Serenio, 31.
Investigation showed the younger Serenio was on his way home around 12:15 a.m. when the two assailants came out of a white Mitsubishi Adventure. One of them fired at him. The gunmen then fled with the driver.
He was shot 150 meters away from his house, Benoman said.
The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was brought to the hospital, where he was declared dead past 2 a.m. Benoman added.
Recovered from the scene were six fired cartridge cases, a deformed slug of .45 caliber pistol, and the victim’s cap.
Benoman said there were witnesses, but they were not able to see the faces of the assailants since they were wearing masks.
As of press time, the police still has no lead on the identities of the perpetrators, but they are not discounting the possibility that the incident might be related to illegal drugs since the victim was allegedly a “drug runner.”
He added that the younger Serenio was supposed to be subjected to Oplan Tokhang.
Benoman said the elder Serenio revealed certain names in his radio interviews that might be related to his brother's death, but the police will stick to their investigation.
The younger Serenio has no threats based on his family's statement, but they started to fear for their lives when the elder Serenio made revelations against policemen and others law enforcers, who were allegedly receiving protection money from the “Berya” drug group.
More than 40 policemen under the Police Regional Office-18 were relieved after they were tagged by the elder Serenio, the alleged the bagman of Victoria “Berya” Tolentino, in the illegal drug trade.
Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, officer-in-charge of Bacolod City Police Office, ordered Benoman to conduct a thorough investigation for the arrest of the perpetrators and the filing of cases.