5 men stab, shoot teenager in Tondo

MANILA, Philippines - Five men in black bonnets reportedly stabbed and shot dead a teenager in Tondo, Manila yesterday.

Police said Aljoven Canalete, a member of the jailhouse gang “Commando,” sustained multiple stab wounds and two gunshot wounds in the head and body.

Police said Canalete was talking with a group of men along Sgt. Mabagos street in Tondo at around 2:30 a.m. when his attackers appeared and dragged him, even as one of them started stabbing him.

Though wounded, the victim managed to free himself and ran toward a house but his assailants followed him. One of them shot him in the head and back. The five men then left the crime scene.

Police recovered two shells from a .45 caliber pistol inside the house. Investigators said they are still trying to determine the motive for Canalete’s murder as witnesses refuse to cooperate out of fear of reprisal.