MANILA, Philippines - Caloocan City officials are urging Lucas Badilla, who admitted that his sons staged the New Year’s Eve shooting, to surrender them for their own safety.
City police chief Senior Superintendent Bernard Tambaoan has talked to Badilla and called on him to surrender his sons Noriel and Jetjet, Mayor Oscar Malapitan said.
Badilla earlier said the men seen on a closed-circuit television camera footage shooting at people watching a street dancing competition were his sons.
“There is a manhunt for the suspects and they are armed. We cannot guarantee their safety if they do not surrender because they might try to fight the arresting officers,†Malapitan told The STAR.
Badilla – who lost his bid for chairman of Barangay 118 last year – said his children might have gone to the province to hide and he has no contact with them. The Badillas are from Baao, Bicol, but an investigator said he “doubts that the suspects will go there because they will be easily traced.â€
A source in Barangay 118 said the Badilla brothers were spotted in the area the night after the shooting and they “could be hiding here in Metro Manila.â€
Badilla, asked if he would surrender his sons if they contact him, did not answer. He said his sons committed the crime to avenge his nephew’s killing.
Two men were killed and 10 others were wounded in the shooting. None of the victims were involved in the death of his nephew, Badilla said.
Malapitan has instructed police officers to patrol the area and be more visible because residents are afraid that the suspects would return.
Noriel, known in the community as “Totoy Ampatuan,†is reportedly involved in several unsolved killings dating back to 2008.
A barangay official said Noriel’s benefactor, the man who allegedly supplies him with drugs and guns, could be hiding him.