Chika Go assassin killed

A self-confessed hitman and chief suspect in the killing of former Manila councilor Chika Go was killed yesterday as he was being brought to attend a court hearing in Arroceros at the back of the Manila City Hall.

Western Police District (WPD) director Senior Superintendent Pedro Bulaong said the handcuffed Victor Macaldo, 27, was shot while in the act of trying to grab the gun of his security escort.

Bulaong said that prior to the incident, two men riding tandem on a motorcycle fired at the vehicle carrying Macaldo and his escorts.

He said it was Macaldo who had been the target of the attackers.

"The men fired at the vehicle carrying Macaldo and his escorts. Naturally, our men returned fire. While the shootout was taking place, Macaldo, who was in handcuffs, grabbed the gun of his escort. He was shot while doing so," Bulaong said.

He said the motorcycle-riding men managed to get away.

Macaldo, who was shot in the right jaw and in the left knee, was rushed by police escorts to the Ospital ng Maynila. He died at about 1:30 p.m. while being treated.

According to Bulaong, the gunmen either had attempted to rescue Macaldo or kill him, explaining the attempt to grab the gun.

"He (Macaldo) could have sensed that he was about to be killed, thus he grabbed the gun of his escort to protect himself. He could have also grabbed the gun to make his escape successful. Remember he tried to escape before," he said.

Bulaong admitted that it is still unclear if Macaldo was hit by bullets fired from the guns of his escorts or from the suspects.

Last Sept. 3, Macaldo allegedly tried to escape from his cell on the second floor of the WPD headquarters by sawing off the iron bars with the help of Romeo Valenzuela, a snatcher and fellow inmate.

Police said Valenzuela was caught by duty guards while sawing the bars of the cell with a hacksaw. The cell is facing San Marcelino Street, which would have made it easy for him to get away from the police headquarters.

When questioned, Valenzuela pointed to Macaldo as the brains behind the escape plan. Valenzuela also told police that Macaldo promised to pay him should they successfully escape.

But Macaldo denied Valenzuela’s allegation, saying he had no plans of escaping.

Macaldo, of Block 8, Lot 38, Phase 2, Mary Homes Subdivision, Molino, Cavite, was arrested last Sept. 1 at the Jollibee Tayuman branch at around 9:30 p.m.

Elements of the WPD District Police Intelligence Unit seized from Macaldo a 9mm pistol with 12 bullets and a caliber .22 pistol fitted with a silencer.

According to the WPD-DPIU, Macaldo admitted to being a hired killer. He also told DPIU policemen that he was the one who gunned down Go in Binondo, on Aug. 10.

Though he did not resemble a police sketch of the gunman, witnesses positively tagged Macaldo as the shooter in the Go gunslaying.

Go had just visited his mother at the Chinese General Hospital and was going home when his brown Mitsubishi Pajero was caught in heavy traffic along Reina Regente Street. It was here where the gunman appeared, shot him at close range and later fled aboard a motorcycle.