CEBU, Philippines — Authorities are tracking down one of the assailants who killed Art Stephen Bas, a neophyte barangay councilman of Lagtang, Talisay City, in an ambush last Friday.
Superintendent Marlu Conag, Talisay City Police chief, said the gunman was captured in photo fleeing the crime scene on board a motorcycle.
The photo, which was taken by an unknown witness, is now circulating online.
Conag said investigators are now looking into the photograph.
He said the photo will be compared to the surveillance footage.
“We have that picture already and we are going to reconcile it. Hahanapin namin ang tao na yun, with the black shirt and red cap, makakatulong talaga ng malaki yun sa pag-conduct ng investigation,” Conag told reporters.
He urged the one who photographed the fleeing suspect and the witnesses to come forward and help policemen in identifying the suspects.
“Dapat concrete ang statements. Kaya we urged those na nakakita, especially yung nag-take ng picture na tumulong sa pulis,” he said.
Owners of two establishments near the crime scene have also promised to cooperate in the investigation.
Conag said the establishments’ closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage will help in expediting the case.
Police are eyeing politics, illegal drugs and personal grudge as possible motive behind the killing of Bas.
Bas was driving a white Ford Everest to school at around 8 a.m. Friday last week when he was waylaid by three unidentified assailants on board two motorcycles while traversing the Cebu South Coastal Road in Sitio Bihonan, Barangay Cansojong, Talisay City.
The two motorcycles “sandwiched” Bas’ vehicle and the assailants fired at him before speeding off towards the direction of Cebu City.
Witnesses said one of the assailants opened the driver’s door after the attack and fired more shots at the victim as if ensuring he would be dead.
Bas succumbed to several gunshot wounds to different parts of his body.
A total of 15 empty shells of caliber .45 were recovered by the team of Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) from the scene.
Stephen was supposed to graduate this year with a degree in mechanical engineering from a university in Cebu City.
He is a grandson of Talisay City Councilor Arturo Bas and son of former Lagtang, Talisay City barangay captain Marc Ferdinand “Dindin” Bas, who was among the three “narco officials” from Cebu identified by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency back in May.
Ferdinand was arrested in a raid conducted by operatives of Cebu Provincial Police Office last April in which he yielded a gun, hand grenade, and ammunition. He was among the 207 alleged narco-politicians in the country, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. — KBQ (FREEMAN)