POLICE don’t have a suspect or a motive in the murder of businessman Ruben Feliciano five days after he was gunned down outside the apartment he was renting in Barangay Apas, Cebu City Friday night, January 1, 2021.
His 30-year-old nephew and driver Ken was also injured in the attack.
Feliciano became a controversial figure after he was linked to several murders when he ran for mayor in the southern town of San Fernando, Cebu during the midterm elections in 2019.
According to Col. Josefino Ligan, Cebu City Police Office director, they are still waiting to obtain footage from security cameras near the crime scene to help with their investigation.
“So far, our investigator has gone to five establishments with security cameras only to be told the security cameras are broken,” Ligan said in Cebuano.
In the meantime, he said the investigator will look into the route the victim and his nephew took before the drive-by shooting and check if their vehicle was captured on security cameras along the way.
Ligan said they have yet to interview Ken, who is still recuperating from his injuries in a private hospital in the city.
According to witnesses, the perpetrators were on board a van, but they weren’t able to get its license plate number.
Although police continue to focus on a business angle as a possible motive for Feliciano’s murder, Ligan said they are not discounting politics.
However, they are inclined to believe the former since Feliciano’s live-in partner also seems to think so, considering that the election took place more than a year ago.
“We were able to interview Feliciano’s live-in partner, but the information she gave us wasn’t that much. However, she did emphasize that business was the most likely motive behind the shooting,” Ligan said in Cebuano.
The police official said Feliciano’s relatives also could not say if the latter had received any threats beforehand.
The Regional Anti-Cyber Crime Unit 7 is currently examining Feliciano’s cellular phone to check if it contains information that may help police with their investigation. (AYB / PJB)