A BUSINESSMAN and an alleged intelligence asset of the army were gunned down on All Saints Day in the cities of Bacolod and Sipalay, respectively, on Wednesday, November 2.
The police said that the death of Jerry Gasendo, 53, of Lizares Extension at Barangay 40, Bacolod City could be drug-related while the New People’s Army (NPA) owned the killing of Dominador Tecson, 30, of Sitio Mansuban-on at Barangay Manlucahoc, Sipalay City.
Tecson’s mother, Zoila Tecson, told the police that while his son was standing at about 2 p.m. at the waiting shed beside the highway along Sitio Indangawan waiting for a bus to ride going to Candoni town when the lone suspect passed by and shot him at close range.
Master Sergeant Robert Castro, investigator of the case, said the victim succumbed to gunshot wounds on his head and abdomen and died on the spot.
Castro noted that the victim was just released from a jail in kabankalan City on probation for the frustrated murder charges filed against him by a relative in 2020.
In a statement, Ka Andrea Guerrero, who is the spokesperson of Armando Sumayang Jr. Command of the NPA’s Southwest Negros Guerrilla Front claimed that Tecson was an active intelligence asset “who has committed several crimes.”
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Calling the shooting of Tecson as a punishment, the NPA said his death was a “revolutionary justice” as they assured to continue protecting the interest of the people.
In Bacolod City, Gasendo was driving his motorcycle along Gardenville Subdivision at Barangay Tangub at about 1:30 p.m. when two unidentified assailants on board a motorcycle fired at him several times.
Gasendo sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died upon arrival at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital.
Police recovered from the scene of the crime two empty shells of .45 caliber pistol, identification cards, and the motorcycle of the victim.
Puerto said that Gasendo, whom he alleged was an illegal drug supplier, was arrested at the area of Police Station 6 before.
Despite operating an eatery, the police official said Gasendo was included in Police Station 6’s drugs watchlist, adding that they were informed that the victim allegedly failed to pay his source of illegal drug.
The police did not discount the possibility that the suspects are gun-for-hire.
Puerto said they will check all the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras near the area to determine the identities of the suspects, who were wearing half helmets.
In related development, the batchmates of Gasendo at Education and Training Center School 1 condemned his brutal murder as they call for a speedy resolution of his case.
“We demand that his death will not be another statistic in the countless unsolved assassination we’ve had in Bacolod which just lends impunity to these murderers to go on a rampage and commit extrajudicial killings,” they said.
They added that he was a businessman and a father who did everything he could to raise his children singlehandedly after his wife passed away more than a decade ago.
“He will always be remembered as a good friend, an artist and a great dad to his children,” they also said, as they emphasize that they will pray for strength for his family members to weather this tragedy.
Gasendo’s batchmates also requested the public to respect the grief that they are going through saying that “it does not matter whether the man led a life as meek as a sheep or perhaps just lived off on a trade that teeters on utmost risk and danger because none of these justify killing.”