Muslims vow to back MPD in hunt for Asayo killer

Muslim leaders pledged yesterday to assist the Manila police in the hunt for the killers of a barangay chairman who was reportedly slain over the control of vendors in Divisoria last Jan. 30.

Datu Amerol-Gulam Ambiong, chairman of the National Muslim Peace and Order Council, assured Manila Police District director Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa that his group will surrender the alleged gunman in the slaying, who, according to witnesses is a Muslim vendor. Lamberto Asayo, chairman of Barangay 28, Zone 2 in Tondo, and leader of the sidewalk vendors’ group in Divisoria, was shot along Recto Avenue in front of the Tutuban Mall. Witnesses said the gunman was accompanied by the leader of the rival faction group of vendors.

“Kahit saan siya (gunman) mag-tago, malalaman namin. Mahigpit na ipinagbabawal sa Koran ang pumatay ng tao," Ambiong said while looking into the photos of the alleged gunman.

Investigators have identified the gunman in the slaying through photos, showing him in the company of the alleged mastermind on several occasions.

Witnesses said the gunman, whose identity was temporarily withheld, is a known henchman of alleged mastermind Diosdado Soriano, alias "Bong," 41, a former civilian agent of the National Bureau of Investigation. Soriano, who was also a leader of a large vendors’ association in Divisoria, is reportedly being coddled by a religious sect and enjoyed the protection of ranking officials of the NBI, according to police investigators.

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza also ordered Superintendent Bernardo Diaz, chief of the Binondo police station, to explain eyewitnesses’ accounts that two of his policemen were escorting the alleged killers of Asayo during the shooting. – Nestor Etolle