Parolee, partner killed in Carcar ambush; police check drug link, robbery

Two men, so far unidentified, gunned down a couple who was just a few meters from their home in Valencia, Carcar City around 1 p.m. Friday.

Police identified them as Mer- lito Lastima Saducas, who was in his 50s, and Angeline Cabigas, 30. Saducas was released on parole last year from the National Bilibid Prison.

Carcar City Police Chief Jose Liddawa Jr. said that investigators are checking if the ambush had anything to do with illegal drugs. Both gunmen also took jewelry and some P30,000 cash from the pair.

A suspected drug lord and his live-in partner were killed in an ambush in Sitio Banko, Barangay Valencia, Carcar City around 1 p.m. yesterday.

Police identified the casualties as Merlito Lastima Saducas, who was in his 50s, and Angeline Cabigas, 30.

Carcar City Police Chief Jose Liddawa Jr. said the motive behind the attack could be Saducas’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Saducas, who was released on parole last year from the National Bilibid Prison, possibly owed a big amount of “shabu” to his supplier and failed to pay it on time, resulting to his death.

The other motive could be robbery. The gunmen took jewelry and cash amounting to P30,000 from the victims.

Liddawa said that it was possible the culprits made it look like robbery to deflect the police’s attention on the alleged illegal activities of Saducas, who had been listed as the number one high-value target in the city.

According to investigation, Saducas, who was known as Etot, was driving a motorcycle with Cabigas as his passenger. They were on their way to the city proper. They failed to no- tice two men on a motorcycle tailing them. Victim Merlito Lastima Saducas, aka Etot, who was released on parole last year from the National Bilibid Prison, may have owed a big amount of “shabu” and failed to pay for it on time, resulting to the attack that also killed his live-in partner a few meters from their house in Barangay Valencia

A few meters from their house, the gunmen shot the victims.

Saducas was hit in the head and face, while Cabigas was also hit in the head and chest. They were rushed to the city hospital, where they were declared dead.

Neighbors failed to see the faces of the gunmen. Police recovered three empty shells of a .45 pistol in the scene.