Police probe ambush of Cebu town vice mayor

CEBU CITY – The task force created to investigate the killing of a vice mayor in southern Cebu is zeroing in on three angles that could help determine the motive and identify the perpetrators behind the attack.

Police said personal grudge or politics may have something to do with the broad daylight ambush of Atty. Jonnah John Ungab, the vice mayor of Ronda town, Cebu. Police are also investigating if the killing was work-related.

"We want to know what were his plans in politics, had he earned enemies in carrying out his profession as a lawyer or were there some people who have personal grudges against him? Those are the things that we are looking into," said Senior Insp. Jonathan Taneo, spokesperson of Task Force Ungab.

The 44-year-old Ungab was gunned down by motorcycle-riding assailants shortly before noon Monday, a few hours after he attended the promulgation of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa Jr. at Cebu City Hall of Justice in Qimonda Building, North Reclamation Area.

Taneo said investigators could not immediately conclude that Ungab was killed because he was the lawyer of a drug lord like Espinosa.

"Some people who had an axe to grind against him may use that issue to divert our focus but we will look at all possible angles and gather evidence to solve this," said Taneo.

"The instruction from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas is to leave no stone unturned to solve the case," added Taneo.

The way the ambush was executed, the gunmen could be professional killers, said Supt. Ryan Devaras, head of the task force.

Based on some video footage secured by the police, the assailants were already at the Qimonda Building before the attack.

"The get-away vehicle, a black motorcycle, was in Qimonda before the attack which means the assailants had been waiting for the victim," said Devaras.

Ungab, who was with his wife Pearl, was driving a Suzuki sedan car when he was attacked along Sergio Osmeña Road.

Based on the video footage, Ungab stopped at an intersection to turn left when a man walked toward the vehicle and shot the lawyer twice in the head.

The gunman casually walked back to a motorcycle driven by an accomplice and fled. The motorcycle was parked a few meters from the crime scene.

Two empty shells for a .45 caliber pistol were recovered near the lawyer's car.

Ungab was declared dead in a private hospital in Mandaue City. His wife was unharmed.

Police said they are waiting for Ungab's family to cooperate in the investigation.

"We want to check the victim's cellphone to find out if he had been receiving threats before he was killed but the family has yet to cooperate with us. We respect their privacy, we will give them time to recover," said Devaras.

Devaras said they are also checking reports that Ungab had sought help from the anti-cybercrime division after receiving threatening text messages.