CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Police yesterday created the Special Investigation Task Force Tabanao to look into the shooting to death of Jesus “Jessie†Tabanao, an agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The task force is composed of the Investigation and Detective Management Branch, City Intelligence Branch, Homicide Section and the Fuente Police Station.
“Dapat ma-solve ang case at sa pagkakaalam ko ang CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) may information gathering din,†said Cebu City Police chief, Sr. Supt. Noli Romana.
Tabanao, 35, was gunned down by an unidentified assailant along Escario St., Cebu City last Saturday night. The gunman, who was riding a motorcycle, disembarked from the vehicle, approached Tabanao from the back and shot him five times. PNP medico legal officer Felino Bronia said the bullets pierced Tabanao’s heart, lung and spine.
Romana said the task force will make a profiling of Tabanao, checking on his lifestyle, the anti-illegal drugs operations he conducted before, and drug syndicates he came across with as an agent.
As of yesterday, the police already have the description of the motorcycle used by the gunman based on the account of a witness who was in the area when the crime happened.
The police suspect that Tabanao was killed by a gun-for-hire based on the manner he was shot.
“The gunman was determined to kill him and successfully gunned him down,†Romana said.
Among the things that the task force will do is to trace Tabanao’s route that night to check on reports that he was being followed before he was killed. They will also check if there are closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras nearby for video footage. The three cellular phones recovered from among Tabanao’s things will also be submitted to the Digital Forensic Crime Laboratory-7 for additional evidence.
Tabanao was a former information officer of PDEA 7 and was assigned effective September 1 to the Caraga region, holding the same position. He was a former reporter for Bombo Radyo Cebu and was an anchor for a radio program over radio DyRC.
He was on his way to fetch his wife Katrina, who is eight months pregnant, at the I.T. Park when he was shot. He was found slumped beside his Mitsubishi Strada with Plate Nos. YFY 911.
Chief Insp. Romeo Santander of the City Intelligence Branch said it appears that Tabanao stopped at Escario Street to get his bullet proof vest at the back of his vehicle when he was shot. Eight empty shells, reportedly from a 9mm firearm, were recovered from the crime scene. His vehicle also had bullet holes.
Police are now pursuing work-related or a personal grudge as possible motive of the killing.
Tabanao’s wife Katrina, in an interview over CCTN-47, blamed the PDEA for the death of her husband, saying the agency proceeded to relieve her husband and transfer him to the Caraga region despite her requests.
“Ang direktor sauna nga si Julius Navales miduso pa ug motion for reconsideration sa national headquarters apan wa gyud ni hatagi ug pagtagad,†she said.
At the Cebu City Hall, Mayor Michael Rama instructed the city police to “bring the perpetrators out as quickly as we can.â€
Rama reminded the police to look into all possible angles, saying that “there are things and circumstances that lead to the killing incident like the involvement of money,†said Rama.
The Cebu Provincial Board, during yesterday’s regular session, also approved a resolution sponsored by Board Member Jose Ribomapil Holganza Jr. expressing their deepest condolences to Tabanao’s family.
The Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC), in a statement, also asked the police to speed up the investigation.
“Whatever the motive, the murder cannot be condoned. It is a breach of order in our peace-loving community and, if he was killed for what he talked about on radio, an assault on the right to free speech,†the CCPC statement said. — with Kristine B.Quintas and Gregg M. Rubio/QSB (FREEMAN)