Gun ban fails to stop Ecija gun-related deaths

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines –  Despite a total gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections before the May 10 polls that remains in force until now, fatal shooting incidents involving firearms still hug the police blotters here and in at least four other towns of Nueva Ecija since last week.

Since May 23, six shooting incidents, or at least one everyday, has been monitored by police, indicating that blazing guns still rule in the province where killings and violence are reportedly provoked by local folks’ perceived “macho mentality,” according to the provincial director of the Philippine National Police.

On May 23, one Apolinario Flores, 28, of Barangay Aduas Centro, Cabanatuan City, was found sprawled in a pool of his own blood at Calara Street, Aduas Centro. He succumbed to a gunshot wounds in his face and was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in the city. The police still has no suspects nor any known motive for the shooting.

On May 24, at about 8:30 p.m., in Barangay Vega, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, one Virgilio Alejo, 47, and leader of the dreaded “Kamagong Group” involved in gangland-style killings, was ambushed by four masked heavily armed men near his residence. 

Also on that date, in Sta. Rosa town, one Eusebio Jardiel Jr., 19, student, of Barangay Mapalad, Sta. Rosa was found dead along the Sta. Rosa-Dingalan Road in Mapalad, Sta. Rosa. 

He sustained gunshot wounds in his body from a gun believed to have been fired from a .45 caliber pistol.

In Guimba town, one Gener Llanes, 42, tricycle driver, and resident of Barangay Bantug, was watching TV in his house at about 7:45 p.m. when two suspected armed men barged into their house and shot the victim four times in the different parts of the body.

A .45 caliber pistol was reportedly used in the killing.

In Barangay Castellano, San Leonardo town, a drinking spree in the house of one Pablo Padilla, ended up in a shooting resulting to the death of one.

Chief Inspector Francisco Mateo, identified the victim as Albert de Jesus, 31, of Barangay San Juan Accfa, Cabanatuan City.

The police identified the gunman as Nelson Miranda, 35, of Mangga, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. He was identified by the victim’s wife Julieta de Jesus, of Barangay San Juan Accfa, Cabanatuan City.

In the heat of a confrontation during the drinking session, witnesses allegedly said they heard Padilla say “there’s him, kill him.”

Padilla reportedly confronted the responding policeman with a Norinco .45 caliber tucked in his waist.

The police also charged Padilla for complicity in the murder.

Earlier, PNP provincial director Senior Superintendent Ricardo Marquez said killings in the province were abetted by so-called macho mentality among Ecijanos who, when provoked, retaliates using guns.