WHO WERE THE VICTIMS OF THE RAMOS SHOOTING?
John Michael Hermoso was a promising barista, having been declared champion of the Philippine Brewer’s Cup last month Kis Tracy Ramos was a student activist and journalist set to graduate from the University of the Philippines Cebu in June
A PRIDE of the local coffee community, 29-year-old John Michael Hermoso was set to leave to compete in the 2019 World Coffee Championships in Boston, Massachusetts Thursday, April 11.
But his dream was cut short when an armed man entered the Good Coffee Cup Company on F. Ramos St. in Cebu City last Wednesday night, April 10, and shot him in the chest.
Bong Abela, a managing partner of the coffee shop, believed the target of the attack was Hermoso, who was hailed champion in the Philippine Brewer’s Cup last month.
“It’s really very sad since his vision was to put Cebu in the (barista) map. He became a champion to represent the Philippines in the world so his life revolved around making excellent specialty coffee. It is something that is not found yet in Cebu so that was his other passion, to introduce it here,” Abela said in Cebuano.
Hermoso was also a managing partner of the coffee shop.
Abela and Hermoso’s other friends had no idea about the motive for the attack, saying the victim had no known enemies and had not received any threats.
“I cannot really say what the motive is. The police are actually doing their best to look at all angles,” Abela said.
Kis Ramos was the cashier. She went outside when she heard a gunshot. She was shot in the forehead.
Ramos, 21, a student leader and a student journalist of the University of the Philippines Cebu, was set to graduate in June.
“It appeared the gunman was aiming for John Michael. Kis was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said in Cebuano.
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines Cebu condemned the killings.
“The full details remain unclear, but what does remain clear is that this culture of killing and impunity has emboldened murderers to openly boast of their weapons and shoot people. The rotten system of society that allows this to occur has never been remedied,” the group said in a statement.
Also injured in the shooting were cashier Sherwin Dean Rivera and dining staff Jerome Amada, who are both recuperating in a private hospital.
Rivera, 23, was once a student leader at the University of San Jose-Recoletos, where he is a fourth year graduating computer engineering student.