NBI probing 2 angles in slay of Customs officer in Cebu

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is looking into two angles as possible motive in the killing of a Customs officer in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu last Feb. 6.

NBI deputy director for regional operations Reynaldo Esmeralda said the killing of Jason Alcantara, assistant chief of the Customs clearing office at the Port of Cebu, could either be work- or drug-related, based on the bureau’s initial investigation.

"We are pursuing these two angles but we cannot reveal the details yet so as not to affect the ongoing investigation," Esmeralda told reporters.

The NBI is conducting a parallel investigation into the killing of the 27-year-old Customs officer.

Esmeralda said he has instructed Medardo Delemos, acting NBI-Central Visayas director, to speed up their investigation and "come up with results as soon as possible."

"We have invited two witnesses to shed light on the case," he said.

Investigation showed that Alcantara was cruising Sugtunggan Road in Barangay Basak on board his Honda Civic when two men riding an unlicensed motorcycle shot him several times.

Alcantara, who had come from a basketball game, was attacked a few meters away from his residence at Better Living Subdivision.

The incident happened on the day the Bureau of Customs was celebrating its 105th anniversary.

Police said Alcantara sustained gunshot wounds in the left armpit, chin and left arm. Residents claimed that they did not hear gunshots, indicating that the assailants used a silencer, they added.

Residents rushed Alcantara to a nearby hospital where he died two hours later.

He was the third Customs personnel slain since 2003. In July 2003, two men gunned down Customs deputy district collector Eduardo Lao and appraiser Bennett Soreño near the regional police headquarters on Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City.