Top drug suspect’s father shot to death
BACOLOD City – The father of illegal drug suspect Ricky Serenio had been shot to death in Barangay Singcang-Airport.
The death of the 53-year-old Wilfredo Serenio came more than a month after his son Wilmar, 31, was killed in the same village.
Police were still trying to identify the attackers and establish the motive.
They cannot say i f the attacks were connected with Ricky’s disclosures on law enforcers’ alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Wilfredo was talking to someone on the roadside around 10:10 p.m. on Monday when two people riding in tandem in a motorcycle got near and peppered him with bullets, Police Station 8’s initial investigation showed.
He sustained gunshot wounds on the abdomen, left arm and left side of the body. He was taken to the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center but Dr. Edelberto Go Jr. pronounced him dead around 11:30 p.m.
The shooters escaped. Police have yet to identify the firearm they used.
On April 10 Wilmar was drinking with friends when a group of armed men emerged from a sport utility vehicle and shot him to death, police said.
Police Station 8 was looking into personal grudge as possible motive in Wilfredo’s death, station commander Senior Inspector Wilfredo Benoman Jr. told on Tuesday. A security camera on a
Panay News nearby establishment recorded the incident but the footage was not very clear. What was apparent was that the shooters were two people on board a motorcycle, said Benoman.
Benoman also noted that, three months ago, Wilfredo filed at Police Station 8 an attempted homicide charge against someone who shot him. He was not immediately able to give further details but said the suspect remains at large.
In a radio interview, Ricky claimed the shooters were from Iloilo.
Benoman said they need to gather more evidence. They do not want to base anything on rumors, he stressed.
Wilmar’s death remains unsolved, too. Police were waiting for the family to file charges after the latter claimed they had witnesses, Benoman said.
Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, acting city police director, said they were still collecting and piecing details: Ricky’s accusations that several l aw enforcers were drug protectors, Wilmar’s alleged involvement in the drug trade, and the previous attempt at their father’s life.
The Bacolod City Police Office’s Investigation Unit will assist Police Station 8 in the probe.
According to Wanky, Ricky has two other siblings. Their mother, Gina, in a radio interview pleaded for protection from the government./