NPD: Caloocan councilman, Tondo painter shot by same gun

MANILA, Philippines - Bullets recovered from the scenes of separate New Year’s Eve shootings in Caloocan and Tondo could have come from the same gun, the Northern Police District (NPD) said yesterday.

NPD public information office chief Superintendent Rio Gatacilo said ballistic test results on .9mm caliber pistol shells recovered from the scene of Caloocan councilman Reynaldo Dagsa’s murder in Maypajo and one lifted after the killing of painter Elpidio de Juan on Molave street in Tondo showed “similarities,” which could mean they came from only one weapon.

“But it’s not yet conclusive, for we need another confirmatory examination from the Camp Crame crime lab,” Gatacilo told The STAR.

Police said the two killings were done by only one group, allegedly headed by Arnel Buenaflor, one of the five accused in Dagsa’s killing. Buenaflor and another suspect, Michael Rollon, was caught by the slain councilman’s camera pointing a gun at him moments before he was shot dead. Dagsa was taking pictures of his family outside his house while welcoming the New Year when he was shot.

De Juan was gunned down by two motorcycle-riding gunmen while having a street party on Molave street in Tondo at around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 31. Two other victims were hit by the stray bullets. Witnesses tagged Buenaflor and Rollon as De Juan’s alleged killers.

The Caloocan police arrested Buenaflor in Isabela after they recovered the suspect’s cell phone, which he dropped in a bus he was riding en route to the province.

The cell phone linked Buenaflor and Rollon to De Juan’s murder, including their alleged financier Rogelio Manguni, alias Roger Piano. Manguni reportedly paid the suspects P10,000 each to kill De Juan. He remains at large.

SPO4 Rafael Melencio of the Manila Police District homicide section said yesterday De Juan’s relatives and that of the two wounded victims have yet to provide them the documents needed in filing charges against Manguni, Buenaflor and Rollon.