Malacañang employee shot dead

An employee of an office in Malacañang died after being shot Thursday night in front of his house in Quezon City.

The police identified the victim as Dennis Garpa, 47, who sustained gunshot wounds in the head, neck, arms and chest. He was dead on arrival at the Far Eastern University Hospital.

Case investigator Police Officer 2 Joycelyn Marcelo said they were looking at other angles aside from robbery, adding that the killing may have been related to the victim’s job.

The victim is reportedly an employee of the Board of Liquidators (BOL) in Malacañang. Citing initial details, Superintendent Franklin Moises Mabanag, chief of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said the victim worked as a “liquidator.”

According to its website, the BOL is a government agency created in 1950 under the Office of the President.

In 1998, the BOL was reverted to the Office of the President to its former status as an attached agency, with the executive secretary as chairman of the board and two members appointed by the President.

The BOL focuses on the liquidation of government assets, payment of liabilities and the closure of the books of accounts of abolished government corporations and agencies.

According to Mabanag, the one who killed the victim was a gunman hired or approached by somebody who wanted Garpa killed. “He (gunman) made sure to kill the victim with those multiple shots,” he said in an interview.

Mabanag said it was not clear whether the victim received any death threats prior to the killing.

Marcelo said they are ruling out robbery as the motive, as she noted that the victim’s belongings were intact.

According to a police report, the incident happened at past 9 p.m. last Thursday in front of the victim’s house in Barangay Commonwealth.

Garpa was sitting in front of his house and talking with cousin Edwin Calderon when two suspects passed by on a red motorcycle.

One of the suspects pulled out a .45 caliber pistol and shot Garpa several times before fleeing. Witnesses described the gunman to have a large build, short hair and wearing a polo and black jacket.

The gunman’s companion was described to be of medium build, around 5’9” tall, and wearing a black cap and shorts.