THE police have identified the person who may have perpetrated the murder of a veterinarian in Talisay City, Cebu on Monday, Dec. 30, 2019.
P/Maj. Gerard Ace Pelare, the city police chief, said the possible mastermind behind the murder of Neil Boligao could be a person who had business transactions with Boligao.
Pelare said the person of interest hired gunmen to kill the victim.
Investigation showed that four men carried out the crime—two men acted as the assailants, while the others served as the lookouts.
Earlier reports stated that the victim was a freelance veterinarian and a hog dealer. However, investigators learned that Boligao had other dealings and a consultancy firm, and Pelare refused to divulge the new information as the inquiry is not yet complete.
“We learned that a huge amount of money was involved,” Pelare said in a mix of Cebuano and English. “We have pieces of evidence that could lead us to the suspect.”
Boligao was gunned down by unidentified assailants after he had brought some pigs scheduled for slaughter to the Talisay City Livestock and Poultry (TCLP) Center in Barangay Biasong on Monday.
Threats
Before he was murdered, Boligao had received several threats to his life through text messages earlier this year, said Pelare.
The victim’s close friends and relatives also disclosed the threats to the police investigators.
Pelare said they would check Boligao’s cellular phones to determine the person who had sent the threats.
“The investigation is really narrowing down to the business angle,” said Pelare, who further said: “The victim had several business ventures. In some of his business undertakings, he had encountered conflicts and there are pending cases (against him) before the Department of Labor and Employment.”
Security camera
Investigators have secured a copy of security camera footage from an establishment near the crime scene. The footage shows the actual shooting incident, and Pelare said the video would be enhanced to identify the perpetrators.
The footage led the investigators to discover that four men carried out the crime.
Isolated incident
Pelare said customers and workers of the TCLP should not fear for their lives as Boligao’s murder is an “isolated case.”
He also urged persons who had received threatening messages to report to the police. The police official assured that if the threats are serious, he would order his personnel to secure them.
The investigators, Pelare assured, are focusing on Boligao’s case. (FMD / JKV)