CEBU - Three men, two of them agents of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group-7, are accused of killing a lechon vendor in sitio NGA, barangay Lahug, Cebu City around 10 p.m. last Wednesday.
The victim was identified as Methusael Inesola, 39, a resident of the place. One of her customers, Lerio Abadiez, 41, of barangay Pardo, Cebu City, was also injured.
Witnesses said the suspects were Yuli Ramas, of barangay Pardo; Diosdado Ortega, of sitio Fatima, barangay Basak-Pardo; and Jackie Trazona of sitio Tagunol, barangay Cogon-Pardo.
Police said the victim was tending her lechon business together with her employees and relatives Rogelio Adolfo, 45; Rodney Adolfo, 18; Jeffrey Veronas, 19; Oliver Veronas, 22; Ryan Lopez, 26, outside her house when the three suspects came on board on black and red Yamaha motorcycle with plate number IY-5522.
The three stopped across the side of same road and Ramas left the vehicle then approached Inesola and shot her several times, also hitting Abadiez. Ortega and Trazona also reportedly shot at Inesola even though she was already lying on the ground.
Rogelio Adolfo claimed that he followed Ramas who just walked casually towards the corner of Ayala access road and J. Luna St. where he disappeared.
Other witnesses claimed they saw Ortega and Trazona leave their motorcycle to run and hide inside the house of a certain PO3 Ken Gerson Yngayo, who is assigned to the Logistics Division of the Police Regional Office-7.
Responding Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation personnel rushed the victims to the Perpetual Succour Hospital where Inesola died hours later.
She had been shot in the right arm, right thigh and back while Abadiez was hit in both thighs.
Policemen and Special Weapons and Tactics team personnel went to the house of Yngayo where they confiscated a KG-9 machine pistol with serial number TZE30656, a silencer, two magazines, a Taurus 9mm cal. pistol with serial no. TZE30656 and 14 live 9mm rounds.
Ortega was found with a .45 cal. pistol with serial no. 1792664, an empty magazine, an inside holster and six live .45 cal. rounds. He also had a Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group-7 agent ID card with his name.
Taken from Trazona were a Frontier revolver and five live 5.56mm rounds and another RAIDSOTG-7 agent ID card. Both suspects failed to present any license or permit to carry those guns and were arrested.
Thirteen empty .45 cal. shells, two slugs, nine live .45 cal. rounds and the abandoned motorcycle were found at the crime scene.
Regional police director Chief Supt. Ronald Roderos said that he will assign chief regional personnel and human resource development division chief Sr. Supt. Vicente Loot to provide Yngayo with a lawyer. He did not say if the policeman was being directly linked to the murder.
Business rivalry was seen as one of the motives of the crime. — Christopher Gabriel Bonjoc/BRP (THE FREEMAN)