6 killed, 6 hurt in New Year revelry

Six people were killed and six others wounded or beaten up in separate incidents all over Metro Manila during the New Year celebrations, police said yesterday.

In Tondo, Vincent Cabral, 34, a resident of Perla street, was drinking with his friend when two men shot at them.

Cabral was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival due to four gunshot wounds in the body. Witnesses told police one of the suspects, a certain “Allan,” was armed with a .45 caliber pistol and fled the scene after the shooting.

Also in Tondo, a 46-year-old forklift operator was stabbed to death by a 29-year-old cook over a woman.

Police said a drunk Oden Gallardo first ate breakfast at the JV Len’s Tapsilog where his girlfriend works. Not finishing his meal, Gallardo confronted the eatery’s cook Marlon Montilla whom he had suspected of courting his girlfriend. Then he challenged him to a duel.

Little did he know that Montilla was already armed with a knife who attacked him and stabbed him repeatedly. The suspect left behind the bleeding victim who succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.

Pablo Gallo, 51, of Dagonoy street in San Andres Bukid, was reportedly shot by one “Imbo” following a drunken altercation. The victim failed to make it to the hospital alive, while the suspect is now the subject of a police manhunt.

In Quezon City, a drunk man was shot dead on New Year’s Day by a security guard after he trespassed into a company compound in Quezon City before dawn yesterday.

Car painter Michael Ocana, 26, a resident of Barangay Tandang Sora, was declared dead on arrival at the East Avenue Medical Center.

The police said Giovannie Sandoy, 20, a security guard of the Mind Protection Security Agency, surrendered to village officials following the incident.

A police report that Sandoy went out to buy a cigarette from a nearby store when he chanced upon Ocana, who asked him why he was carrying a gun.

Sandoy pushed Ocana when he reportedly tried to grab the guard’s .38 caliber revolver. This irked Ocana, who took off his shirt and challenged Sandoy to a fistfight.

The security guard said he walked away and went back to his post but Ocana chased him into the company compound. This forced the security guard to pull out his gun and shoot the victim.

Meanwhile, delivery man Victor Cainta, 28, was hacked to death by a man called “Intsik,” as he was delivering some softdrinks at a store in Quezon City.

Witnesses said Intsik, after attacking the victim, also took a belt bag from Cainta that contained an undetermined amount of cash.

In San Juan City, an 18-year-old laborer was stabbed dead during a fight in Barangay West Crame early yesterday.

Police Officer 2 Serafin Gatan III identified the fatality as Esmeraldo Salazar, who was seen fighting with Joey Regajal at around 5 a.m.

“It appears that prior to the incident, Salazar and Regajal had a fight for unknown reasons,” Gatan said, adding that at the height of the fistfight, Regajal then pulled out a knife and stabbed Salazar repeatedly.

Four other stabbing victims were recorded in different police stations in Manila and are now getting treatment in different hospitals. Police said most violence erupted following excessive drinking as merrymakers welcome the New Year.

In San Juan City, unidentified men stabbed a 19-year-old man and beat up his friend in Barangay Batis at the height of the New Year’s revelry.

Gatan identified the victims as Michael Macabanos and Rene Vinas, 29, both of Barangay San Perfecto, San Juan City.

Macabanos had just accompanied his girlfriend home and was walking along Bautista street in Barangay Batis when he passed by some men who were having a drinking session in the area.

Gatan said the suspects tried to provoke Macabanos to a fight, but since he was alone he ignored the suspects’ provocation.

He said Macabanos met Vinas several blocks away. They went back and confronted the suspects, who beat them up. One suspect stabbed Macabanos, who also suffered a fractured skull.

Macabanos was rushed to the San Juan Medical Hospital where he remains confined. – Nestor Etolle, Jose Rodel Clapano