CAGAYAN DE ORO -- Two foreigners were shot dead in a beach resort in Opol town, Misamis Oriental Sunday afternoon, the police said.
The victims were identified as Robert Erich Loever, 67, and Baltazar Johann Erni, 78, said Opol police station chief Senior Inspector Alwin Baclao.
Baclao said that based on the identification cards retrieved from the crime scene and from statements of their companions, both victims hailed from Switzerland.
Baclao added that he has requested for the passports of the victims to be brought to the police office.
He said both Loever and Erni were gunned down at the parking area near the entrance of D. Yasay Beach Resort around 1 p.m. Sunday.
He added the two victims were shot in the head and other parts of their bodies, resulting in their instant deaths.
Baclao said the Swiss nationals’ Filipina partners, who were with them when the shooting happened, would serve as primary witnesses.
Reports said that before the incident, Loever and Erni, together with their partners, had a meal at the resort, but police could not yet confirm this.
Baclao said the victims came from the adjoining beach resort before the shooting.
It was learned that Loever’s fiancée is five months pregnant, while Erni’s companion, Rowelyn Jane Odchigue, is his girlfriend.
Unmasked shooters
Their female partners said the three unidentified gunmen did not wear any mask or any facial covering when they approached the victims. They were seen walking away from the crime scene after the shooting.
Baclao said investigators are discounting robbery as motive since no personal stuff or money was taken by the shooters from the victims.
The police, however, are still digging deeper into the motive of the shooting.
In the initial investigation by the police, Loever and Erni were residents at Xavier Estates, Fr. Mastersons Avenue in Barangay Upper Balulang, but it could not yet be determined how long they had been staying at the said posh housing community.
As of Sunday afternoon, Baclao said the relatives of the victims or the Swiss Embassy located in Makati City, Metro Manila were not informed yet about the incident.
It can be recalled that last year, American national Michael Alan Turner, together with his Filipina lover, were also killed at another beach resort in Opol.
Isolated case
Vice Governor Joey Pelaez, in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro on Sunday, condemned the killing, as he called on authorities to fast-track the investigation to identify the gunmen.
“We condemn the shooting of foreign guests in the province of Misamis Oriental. We call on the [Philippine National Police] to immediately work on the apprehension of the perpetrators of this dastardly act,” Pelaez said.
“The impact of the shooting will definitely affect the tourism industry of the province, which the Provincial Government led by Governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano worked so hard to promote,” he said.
Pelaez, however, assured the public that the slaying was an isolated incident and the province is generally peaceful. (Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro)