Kawasaki official slain in Las Piñas

The general manager of a motorcycle firm was killed while his driver-bodyguard was seriously wounded in an ambush believed staged by the notorious urban hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade in Las Pinas City yesterday morning.

Angelo Dela Cruz, 46, married, of Kawasaki Motors, Inc., and resident of Block 9 Lot 15 Soldiers Hill IV, Molino, Bacoor Cavite, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds at the Las Pinas Doctor’s Hospital.

His bodyguard, Larry Clarito, 29, of Christine St, Golden Acres, Talon, Las Pinas, is still under observation.

Police said the ambush was most likely connected to the victim’s firing of Ramir Rivera, president of their company’s union, last Aug. 3. Initial investigation conducted by SPO1 Jorge Gabriel, case investigator, revealed Dela Cruz had been receiving death threats after he fired Rivera.

Rivera was reportedly dismissed after the union attended the Welgang Bayan last July. The ambush took place at about 6:15 a.m. while Dela Cruz’s Isuzu pickup, driven by Clarito, was cruising along a street inside St. Joseph’s Subdivision.

Police said the four assassins, armed with .45 pistols, who witnesses said came in a tricycle, lay in wait along the roadside and started shooting at the pickup as it came near.

After the barrage of gunfire two of the gunmen walked to the vehicle and peered inside to check if Dela Cruz was dead. Before escaping, a note was thrown by a gunman in the direction of the car.

Police said that in the note, the gunmen identified themselves as members of the Sparrow Unit of the ABB and declared that Dela Cruz’s killing was for his alleged sins against the revolutionary cause and also union busting.

Meanwhile, a lady garments trader allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade was shot dead by a still unidentified gunman in Quiapo, Manila, last Thursday night.

Reports reaching the homicide division of the Western Police District identified the victim as Bayamina Idris, 35, native of Catabato City and resident of 384 Globo de Oro St. in Quiapo.

Police said Idris was eating her dinner at a carinderia near her stall along Elizondo street corner Muelle dela Quinta at about 7:10 p.m. when the suspect approached her and shot her at close range with a pistol.

The victim was shot three times in the body by the suspect. After seeing the victim slumped on the ground, the suspect casually walked away with the pistol still unknown caliber.

Witnesses described the gunman as about 35 years old, about 5’6" tall, with short-hair, brown complexion and medium build.

Responding policemen led by Senior Police Officer 3 Francisco Pardo rushed the victim to the Philippine General Hospital but she was declared dead on arrival.

Homicide probers theorized that the victim could have been "silenced" by her partners after a botched drug deal. Probers suspect that the victim could have been using her stall as a front for her alleged drug trafficking.– Mike Frialde