Gun violence goes on with five new deaths
Five people were killed while one was wounded in separate incidents of gun violence in Cebu province.
Police said they ended up shooting Rodel “Patikan” Halos, 33, the third most wanted person in Talisay City, when he allegedly tried to resist arrest during the serving of a search warrant against him for cases of murder and frustrated murder.
Senior Police Officer 1 Maximo Cuyacot said they saw Halos packing illegal drugs in Sitio Mananga 2, Barangay Tabunok when they came to serve the warrant yesterday afternoon. However, the latter allegedly pulled out his firearm and tried to shoot it out with cops.
No one from the side of the police was injured in the shootout.
Halos, meanwhile, was hit and did not make it to the hospital. Recovered from him were two .38 revolvers with live ammunition.
Meanwhile, three bodies with gunshot wounds were found in separate locations in Mandaue City and Liloan town yesterday morning.
The first body, a male, was discovered by a habalhabal driver along the road in Sitio Capasanan, Barangay Casili, Mandaue City early morning yesterday, according to Police Officer 2 Ryan Diamada of Canduman Police Station.
Diamada said the man, who remained unidentified, was already dead when he came to the scene. The victim was about 30 to 35 years old, about five-footfive, wearing white shirt, dark blue slippers, and orange shorts.
Diamada said the man may have been a victim of “salvaging” and his body thrown in Capasanan.
In Liloan, police remained clueless on the identities of a man and woman who were also found dead with gunshots in Barangay San Roque.
The woman’s body was first discovered in a ravine in Purok Sandayong 1 at around 9 a.m. yesterday. The victim was between 20 and 30 years old, wearing white shirt, and blue short pants.
About 30 meters from her body, residents also found the body of man wearing white shirt and short pants.
Senior Police Officer 1 Jason Gayo, desk officer at Liloan Police Station, said they are facing a blank wall at the moment as to the motive of the two killings. They believe that the two victims were related to each other.
The bodies were brought to Maturan Funeral Homes in Liloan.
In Balamban town, a man identified as Allan Aroba, 36, was also shot dead by an unidentified assailant in Barangay Liki at 11 p.m. on Sunday.
Aroba, a resident of Das Quarry, Barangay Don Andres Soriano, Toledo City, was already dead and lying face down on the road when Balamban police officers arrived at the scene.
He had gunshot wounds in his body and his motorcycle found in the middle of the road with its engine still running.
Aroba’s body was brought to Gemma Funeral Homes for autopsy while authorities are still conducting an investigation to determine the real motive of the killing and to identify the suspect.
Finally, a 43-year-old man suffered wounds on his arms and cheek after being shot by unidentified assailant while eating at a batchoy place in Barangay Ibabao-Estancia, Mandaue City.
Senior Inspector Aldrin Villacampa of MCPOStation 1 said Romel Borja, a resident of Sta. Rosa, Olango Island in LapuLapu City, was rushed to the Ignacio Cortes Hospital after the incident.
Investigation is still ongoing to determine the assailant who ran away after the shooting.