MANILA, Philippines - Is a brother of Philippine shooting champion Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla involved in the killing of Michael Lontoc, a member of the country’s practical shooting team?
According to rumors circulating in coffee shops in Metro Manila, Harold Padilla, alias Chimmey, allegedly had something to do with the Lontoc’s murder in Malabon last Sept. 25.
Harold, a gun supplier who happens to be a friend of President Aquino, is reportedly now under the protective custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
However, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Alan Purisima vehemently denied reports that Harold is under police custody. So far, Harold’s name has not surfaced in their investigation of Lontoc’s killing, he said.
Purisima said there are no reports that Harold disappeared, but noted that he received reports that a shooter, fearing for his life, went into hiding after Lontoc was killed.
The NCRPO is coordinating with the “shooting community” to identify the missing shooter, who might shed light on Lontoc’s murder.
Talk has it that a story linking Harold to Lontoc’s killing might have been concocted by the enemies of the two men to “embarrass” Aquino, himself a gun enthusiast.
Harold and Lontoc are allegedly co-financiers in a gun dealing business and “shortchanging” in earnings is the main reason behind the ambush-slay.
Purisima said reports reaching his office stated that Lontoc and Harold are both shooters, but he had no knowledge of the business ventures they were in.
Since they started their investigation into Lontoc’s killing, Purisima pointed out that the President has not called him up to inquire about the case, and that he cannot say whether Aquino personally knows the two men.
Purisima said his investigators are pursuing an angle that Lontoc “shortchanged” a gun smuggling syndicate of the proceeds of the high-powered firearms he sold.
Meanwhile, Purisima said they have Lontoc’s two cell phones – turned over to the police by the shooter’s relatives – and investigators are tracking down the last persons who talked to the victim.
“We want to know whether they know something we don’t,” he said.
Purisima said Lontoc’s widow continues to evade police investigators.
He added that Lontoc’s laptop and desktop computers at his Red, White, and Blue gun store in Makati City are in the possession of his fellow incorporators.
Sources told The STAR that it was on the second day of Lontoc’s wake when his fellow incorporators arrived at their gun store and took the laptop and desk computers for “safekeeping.”
Purisima said they are trying to determine the real owner of the gun store to guide them in their next move to gain access to the laptop and desk computers. “We strongly believe that Lontoc stored his daily transactions in those (computers),” he said.