Traffic accident triggers shootout

MANILA, Philippines -  A traffic accident triggered a shootout between two motorists, one of whom owns a security agency, atop the Guadalupe Bridge in Mandaluyong City Sunday, officials said yesterday.

Motorist Jason Enralino sustained a gunshot wound in the chest while Ezequiel Adora, the other driver, was hit in the left forearm and hip. Adora’s companion, Jomar Balanlay, was hit twice in the left forearm and once in the left arm and right hip.

Mandaluyong City police chief Senior Superintendent Tyrone Masigon said Enralino was reported to be in stable condition by doctors at the Lung Center of the Philippines while Adora and Balanlay are undergoing treatment at the Ospital ng Makati.

Masigon said they will file appropriate charges in court after taking the statements of the opposing parties.

“We are still trying to determine what happened because we have yet to talk to the parties concerned as they are still in the hospital,” Masigon said in an interview.

He said that when his men arrived at the bridge, Enralino’s Toyota Land Cruiser and Adora’s Honda Accord were already parked at the bridge’s center island.

According to an investigation by Inspector Herculano Mago, the city police’s traffic chief, Enralino’s Land Cruiser rear-ended Adora’s Accord at around 6 a.m. Sunday. The two vehicles incurred minor damages, he added.

Witnesses said the drivers rushed out of their vehicles and shot at each other. Adora was reportedly armed with a .45 caliber pistol while Enralino allegedly carried a 9mm automatic pistol, Mago said.

Masigon said the two pistols are in the custody of the Mandaluyong police. He added that investigators are coordinating with shops near the crime scene to get closed-circuit television camera footage that would help them establish who was at fault and who started the shooting.