Father urged to help in case

CEBU, Philippines - The police are appealing to the father of the 11-year-old boy who shot his 13-year-old neighbor last Friday to surrender his son.

Sr. Insp. Jul Muhammad Jamiri, chief of the Cebu City Homicide section, said the request should not be seen as a threat to the child. He said the police would simply want to talk to the boy to know what really happened.

“We are not a threat to their son. We are here to help the boy. Our aim is simply to resolve the case and we can provide him with counseling,” Jamiri told The FREEMAN.

The boy is expected to be exempted from any criminal liability owing to the Juvenile Welfare Act.

The victim, 13-year-old Mark Rey Abaño, a Grade 3 student of the Suba Pasil Elementary School, is already in stable condition as of yesterday afternoon.

Jamiri said they have successfully convinced the boy’s mother to help bring her son out, but they would also need the father’s cooperation considering that he is reportedly with his son in the house of the mother’s parents in Cebu City. 

Jamiri said they are hopeful that the parents can produce the boy today.

It was the boy’s mother who turned over to the police the cal. 38 revolver the boy used to shoot his neighbor. She earlier denied that her live-in partner owns the gun.

Jamiri said they would also need to know the owner of the gun. He said the owner may face criminal charges for negligence.

Police tried to interview the children who were with the two boys during the incident, but all of them denied witnessing what happened. Their parents would also reportedly scold them if they answered the questions of the police.

The incident took place inside a Billiard Hall at Sitio Lawis in Barangay Suba Pasil. Initial Investigation revealed that the boy was playing with the revolver by aiming it at the victim but the gun accidently went off on the boy’s third attempt to pull the trigger. Abaño was hit on the head.

The victim was rushed to Cebu City Medical Center where he is currently recuperating.

The boy reportedly immediately fled together with his father.

The billiard hall’s caretaker, Cesar Abergas, 64, said earlier he was attending to a billiard game when he heard a burst of gunfire. He then saw the 11-year-old who was still holding the gun run away, saying, “Ako na man ‘to nakuha ang bala (I already removed the bullet).”

Police recovered a deformed slug from the crime scene.  (FREEMAN)