EARIST official slain in ambush

Manila, Philippines -  Two unidentified gunmen ambushed the executive vice president of Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) in Sta. Mesa, Manila Friday night, a few minutes after the victim left the school, according to the Manila Police District (MPD).

Noel Cabrera, 46, succumbed to several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the De Ocampo Memorial Medical Center (DOMMC).

Initial investigation had it that Cabrera was behind the wheel of his Toyota Avanza, with EARIST employee Rolando Peraldo in the front passenger seat. They came out of EARIST’s back gate along Valencia street and were moving toward Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard when the attack happened.

Peraldo said Cabrera was talking to his wife on his mobile phone when shots rang from behind.

He said the victim embraced him and uttered, “Roland, may tama ako (I’ve been hit).” He added that the car continued running, as Cabrera slumped in the driver’s seat, and eventually hit the center island of Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard.

Peraldo said he got out of the car and shouted for help until a Metro Manila Development Authority enforcer approached them and drove the victim to the DOMMC.

Police Officer 3 Alonzo Layugan, Manila Police District homicide investigator, told The STAR they interviewed the victim’s wife and some bystanders who witnessed the incident, but no one wanted to talk.

He said two men on a motorcycle tailed the victim’s car after it left the school gate. The two men were wearing helmets.

Layugan said the police is still trying to establish the motive of the ambush and are still trying to locate a tricycle driver and his passengers, who were behind the victim’s car when the shooting occurred.

Police recovered a deformed slug and five spent shells of a .45 caliber pistol at the scene of the crime.

Second school exec killed

The ambush of a school official in the Sta. Mesa area is the second incident in seven months.

In October 2011, lawyer Augustus Cezar, vice president for administration of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, was shot dead while waiting in his van in front of a convenience store at the corner of Pureza street and Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard.

Two witnesses told police that two men riding a motorcycle were seen fleeing from the scene moments after the shooting.

Police said there is a similarity in the two incidents. Investigators are looking into Cabrera’s personal life and his job to determine if there are people who could have harbored a grudge against him.