Police eye 6 men behind cop, partylist bet’s ambush

CEBU, Philippines —  Two to three motorcycle riding-gunmen are now being looked at by the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) behind the ambush of a police official and his wife Sunday night in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.

Lt. Colonel Maria Theresa, information officer of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that this has been initially assessed during their first meeting of SITG yesterday.

The SITG has convened and was attended by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU), and other investigators.

During the meeting, the footages extracted from the CCTVs around the area of the ambush were examined.

Investigators have spotted at least three riding-gunmen believed to have perpetrated the shooting of Lt. Colonel Chuck Barandog and his wife, Yvonne Caña-Barandog, who is the first nominee of STL Party-list.

According to Macatangay, they are now eyeing at least six individuals since each motorcycle had two persons boarding, respectively.

"Atong nasayran nga kini sila giatangan, somewhere along Pope John Paul Avenue ug gisundan ngadto kung asa nahitabo ang mao nga krimen," she said.

The police were able to spot the directions and stop overs that the possible suspects had made during the day of the commission of the crime.

"But again, that will remain to be validated by other pieces of evidence that will come forth that will be obtained by the coming days," she added.

Currently, Barandog is still in the intensive care unit (ICU) and still has to undergo a series of operations. Macatangay, however, said that his medical bulletin cannot be laid out as stable.

Accordingly, he is able to move now by himself on his hospital bed.

Barandog's family has coordinated with the police.

Further, Macatangay said that the non-functioning CCTVs around the city remain a challenge for the city police in solving crimes.

According to her, there are several non-functioning CCTVs around the area where the ambush happened that could have helped them in solving the crimes.

Barandog and his wife, who is the first nominee of a party-list, landed in the hospital after they were ambushed.

The couple came from a gathering of their party-list's supporters when they were ambushed. — GMR (FREEMAN)