‘Jueteng lord’ shot dead inside Angeles hospital

ANGELES CITY — An alleged gambling lord was shot dead Monday night inside a hospital here where he was recuperating from a bullet wound he claimed he sustained in a freak accident the previous day, police said.

Senior Superintendent Jimmy Restua, city police chief, said the victim, Ruben Marin, known to jueteng bettors here as JR, died from multiple gunshot wounds in the head and upper body.

A certain Abigail Punzalan, who was visiting Marin, and Christian Roman Castro were hit in the abdomen and right foot, respectively.

Two years ago, Marin exposed the jueteng operations in the City of San Fernando of a gambling lord who he claimed had booted him out as "area manager."

Marin went into hiding after the exposé but later allegedly resumed his jueteng activities in Barangay Pandan and nearby communities here after another gambling lord, also based in San Fernando, took over the illegal numbers game in this city.

Investigators said a lone gunman barged into Marin’s room at the St. Catherine’s Hospital in Barangay Cutcut and peppered him with 9-mm. bullets. Eight spent 9-mm. shells were found at the scene.

Three people reportedly kept watch outside the room of Marin, who was admitted last Sunday. Hospital personnel quoted him as saying that his pistol fell and went off, hitting him in the buttocks.

Marin’s sister Liza told probers that some people interested in taking over jueteng operations in the southern parts of Angeles City could have masterminded her brother’s killing.

But Restua said investigators were looking into a land dispute as possibly behind the murder. He refused to elaborate.

Chief Superintendent Vidal Querol, Central Luzon police director, dismissed speculations that Marin was slain over jueteng.

"I don’t think that would be enough reason for one to kill somebody else," he said. He claimed he had not heard about Marin before.

Querol admitted that jueteng has persisted in the region but those behind it have resorted to so-called "guerrilla-type" operations, holding draws of winning number combinations from one place to another to elude law enforcers.