'Gunman in slay of Makati staff got calls as he lay dead'

MANILA, Philippines - The suspect in the killing of an employee of the Makati City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, received a call from a woman after he was gunned down by policemen in the ensuing encounter.

Makati City police chief, Senior Superintendent Froilan Bonifacio said the cell phone of the still-unidentified suspect, suddenly rang as the crime scene at the corner of Pierce and P. Medina streets in Barangay San Isidro was being processed by elements of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO).

“The phone rang and when a SOCO officer answered it, the voice of a woman was at the other end but she suddenly hang up” said Bonifacio.

Bonifacio said the suspect also made a lot of calls to numbers in the Navotas and Malabon areas. “We are still checking out his background as well as who was the woman who called on his phone,” said Bonifacio.

The unidentified suspect was shot dead as he traded shots with Makati policemen who were responding to the fatal shooting of a Makati City Hall employee Mario Reyes in Barangay Pio del Pilar just minutes earlier.

Reyes, 52, was approached by three unidentified men as he was having lunch at an eatery along J. Victor street in Barangay Pio del Pilar at about 2 p.m. Shortly after, he was shot dead, with the suspects fleeing on foot before boarding a passenger jeepney, police said. The still unidentified suspect was then spotted by police at the vicinity of P. Medina and Pierce. That encounter triggered a firefight which left the suspect dead and a policeman, PO3 Julius Guerrero wounded in the right arm.

Recovered from the suspect was a .38 caliber revolver. Guerrero meanwhile, was rushed to the Makati Medical Center for treatment of his gunshot wound. According to the National Capital Region Police Office, he will be awarded the Wounded Personnel Medal.

Meanwhile, Bonifacio said Reyes’ killer may still be at-large as initial investigation showed that he was felled by bullets fired from a .45 caliber pistol. Reyes died on the spot after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds in the body.

Bonifacio said investigators are looking at the angle that Reyes, who was employed with the Makati City Hall’s Department of Environmental Services (DES) was killed for his previous involvement in the clearing of illegal vendors.

According to Bonifacio, Reyes had received a death threat prior to his fatal shooting.