Same suspects eyed in Pasay, Makati shootings

MANILA, Philippines — The suspects in the killing of a policeman in Pasay on Saturday might also be responsible for the shooting of another officer in Makati on Aug. 1.

S/Sgt. Jomar Caliguiran, 39, was sitting on his motorcycle along Taft Avenue when a man wearing a helmet approached him and pulled out a gun.

Before the gunman could pull the trigger, Caliguiran managed to stand up, draw his weapon and exchange gunfire with the suspect.

Caliguiran died at the scene from four gunshots to the body.

The motorcycle driver was nabbed in a follow-up operation in Dasmariñas City, Cavite on Sunday. The gunman remains at large.

In a phone interview with The STAR, Pasay police chief Col. Joselito de Sesto said the suspects initially targeted to snatch Caliguiran’s necklace.

“Based on closed-circuit television footage, the gunman only intended to grab the necklace, but Caliguiran sensed the suspect behind him so he drew a gun,” De Sesto said.

He said the perpetrators could be the same ones involved in a shootout on Aug. 1 that injured Lt. Dexter Pascua, a member of the police Highway Patrol Group in Calabarzon.

“They have the same modus operandi: they’ll get your things and when the victim fights back, they will shoot you,” De Sesto told reporters.

Pascua, along with his child and another police officer, survived the gun attack by motorcycle-riding suspects inside a carwash.