Drug hit squad strikes anew

Suspected members of a hit squad hired by drug syndicates in Taguig have attacked anew, this time targeting a barangay chairman who has been active in the campaign against illegal drugs.

Signal Village barangay chairman Henry Dueñas, along with three watchmen had just arrived at a house on Quirino street at 9 p.m. to visit the wake of a friend when at least five heavily armed men started firing at them.

The bullets missed Dueñas. He immediately ran inside the house where the wake was being held.

However, one of his tanods, identified as Benedicto Echapare, was hit in the right arm by a bullet from a .9mm handgun. The tanod is in critical condition since the bullet penetrated the bone, police said.

Crime scene investigators also recovered from the area spent shells and slugs from a caliber .45 pistol.

Investigators said one of the suspects was armed with an Ingram sub-machinegun.

PO1 Rodelio Lutangco said no witnesses have surfaced during the initial investigation.

"Maybe they’re all scared or maybe they just didn’t really see the suspects because it was really dark in that area at night," Lutangco said.

Police and relatives of Dueñas believe that the attack could be linked to the barangay’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

Municipal Councilor Jun Dueñas, the barangay chairman’s son, is also active in Signal Village’s anti-illegal drugs programs.

"Mga galit sa amin ng tatay ko ang mga yon dahil sa mga ginagawa naming laban sa kanila," he said in an interview.

The councilor said the area and neighboring barangay Maharlika Village are known to be lairs of various criminal gangs.

He said the municipal council are now considering a resolution that would put Maharlika Village under heightened alert.

Just last week, the head of the civilian arm of police’s anti-illegal drug operations in the area, Hadji Samier Esmael, was shot dead near his house in Maharlika Village, in front of his 12-year-old son.

Another barangay official who was actively involved in the anti-illegal drugs campaign, Abdul Assis Kuday, was shot dead at around 10 p.m. in the same barangay last Sept. 16.