Superintendent Billy Beltran, city police chief, identified the victims as Reynaldo Jurilla, 38, married, supervisor and Thomas Balgoma, 32, laborer, both stay-in employees of Mitsuboshi Cutlery Philippines at 95 Rubbermaster Road, Barangay Lingunan, Valenzuela.
Police reports showed the ambush-slay occurred at around 8:05 a.m. along T. Santiago street corner Rubbermaster Road as the victims were on their way to the factory on board a company-owned green and gray Toyota van (TNB-600). Police said four men armed with handguns blocked the vehicle and quickly pumped several bullets into the victims.
A female eyewitness who declined to be identified told probers she first heard several shots as she was talking with someone on the phone and saw three young men, in their early or mid-20s, wearing shorts and caps, with handguns raised. She said the suspects later commandeered a tricycle driven by tanod executive officer Francisco Fernando and alighted at Donesa street in Barangay Canumay and fled on foot from there. The suspects remain at large.
Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) team leader Senior Inspector Benigno Asilar said they recovered five spent shells each from caliber .45 and 9mm pistols. Inside the van, probers also found four deformed slugs from the caliber .45 and two from the 9mm pistol.
Among the most likely motive for the killing being looked into by the local police included vendetta perpetrated by still unnamed persons formerly employed, but recently dismissed by the firm. Beltran, however, said this is not official yet pending further investigation on the incident.
National Capital Region Police Office chief Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr. in a radio interview earlier, said the initial theory that the ambush was an attempt at payroll robbery was not true.
He said that the killing, according to investigators, pointed to a dismissed employee hitting back at his former employers. Beltran told The STAR his men are conducting a deeper investigation on the incident. – With Pete Laude