This developed after several crack teams of policemen were mobilized following the order of Manila Police District (MPD) director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong to find and arrest the suspects who shot dead Manuel Zachary Escudero, a distant cousin of the opposition lawmaker, during a cell phone snatching incident.
First to be arrested by Malate policemen under Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo were Victor Martin, 37, of Ermita, Manila, and Leopoldo Villanueva, 35, of Pasay City.
The two, who fitted the witnesses’ description of the suspects, were apprehended while riding in tandem aboard a black Yamaha motorcycle (PD-7156) in Tramo, Pasay City at around 8 p.m. last Thursday.
Pedrozo said Martin was being interrogated by PO2 Jesus de Leon when the suspect asked that his handcuffs be removed so he could relieve himself.
As the handcuffs were being removed, Martin allegedly grabbed De Leon’s gun. A shot was fired in the ensuing scuffle.
PO2 Celso Tabobo III heard the shot and upon seeing his colleague almost being subdued, fired twice hitting the suspect in the chest.
Martin was rushed at the Ospital ng Maynila, but was declared dead on arrival.
Pedrozo said Martin was driving the motorcycle used in robbing Escudero while Villanueva acted as lookout.
At around 10 p.m. of same day, operatives of MPD’s Task Force Galugad, led by Chief Inspector Alejandro Yanquiling, apprehended another suspect, identified as Hilario Dizon, 51, of Paco, Manila, in a follow-up operation in Ermita.
Yanquiling said Dizon was positively identified by witnesses as the gunman. Dizon, who was then driving a Honda motorcycle (UM-3990), tried to drive past the arresting policemen, resulting in a chase that ended at the Remedios Circle in Malate.
When presented to mediamen, Dizon vehemently denied the charges against him, while his 22-year-old wife Shiela, children and relatives pleaded with the police to free him.
"Walang kasalanan ang asawa ko. Nasa bahay siya nung umagang sinasabing naganap ang pagpatay. Ang motorsiklo niya ay bago, samantalang sinasabi ng mga witnesses na lumang motorsiklo ang gamit ng mga pumatay," the wife said.
Escudero, a freshman information technology student, was shot dead after he tried to resist an attempt by two motorcycle-riding men to snatch his Nokia 3100 cellular phone at the corner of Arellano and Vito Cruz streets in Malate.
He died from a lone gunshot wound in the chest.