Atienza wants barangay chairman’s killers brought to justice

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza gave Manila Police District (MPD) chief Danilo Abarzosa a very stern warning to get the killers of murdered barangay chairman Lamberto Asayo.

"Nobody should be allowed to hurt any barangay official as much as nobody should be allowed to hurt any policeman," he said, adding that "certainty of arrest is the best deterrent to any form of criminality."

Asayo, a barangay chairman in Tondo and a leader of a sidewalk vendors group in Divisoria died last Thursday at the Metropolitan Hospital after he was shot in the head allegedly by a rival faction.

Asayo was shot Tuesday night along Recto Avenue in front of the Tutuban Mall by two men. Barangay tanod Jared Alforque was shot in the leg when he tried to help.

Asayo was arranging his goods when the attackers walked up from behind and shot him pointblank. He was leading a group of street vendors involved in a struggle for control of an area in Divisoria.

According to MPD homicide section head Chief Inspector Alejandro Yanquiling Jr., five witnesses have identified one of the gunmen as Bong Soriano, the leader of the rival group. He had a quarrel with Asayo a week before the shooting, Yanquiling added.

Soriano has gone missing but has sent surrender feelers.

Before Asayo’s takeover, Soriano’s group were reportedly making hundreds of thousands of pesos from protection money and fees from vendors.

But when Asayo was designated by the city hall as their caretaker, street hawking became orderly and fees went directly to the city government. — Nestor Etolle