Cops continue manhunt for Binondo shooting suspect

Police released yesterday a photograph of the prime suspect in a shootout in Binondo, Manila on Monday, during which four children were hit by stray bullets.

Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut said police found the suspect, an alias “Baldo,” had left his residence with his family and may be hiding in Cavite province.

“No one wants to give the real name of Baldo since they considered him as their local ‘Robin Hood,’” he said.

Yabut said Baldo figured in a shootout with Bonifacio Lebrilla, 47, Monday afternoon in a crowded street following an altercation over illegal power connections.

Lebrilla was hit in the arm and armpit and is confined at the Ospital ng Maynila. During the shootout, four children who were reportedly playing inside a parked tricycle were hit by stray bullets. Lebrilla reportedly used the tricycle as his cover during the shootout.

Kim Dasoy, 6, and John Carlo Armada, 3, are reportedly in critical condition at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center for bullet wounds in the head and neck, respectively. Chris Joan, 9, and her one-year-old brother, Chris, were grazed by bullets in the arm and stomach.

Lebrilla identified Baldo through his photo as the same person he engaged in a shootout.

Yabut said the fight for the control of illegal power connection in Parola has claimed lives, since it reportedly brings in hundreds of thousands of pesos for the operator. – Nestor Etolle