BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Like a scene straight out of the movies but seemingly plausible amid the government’s crackdown on narcotics, the spokesman of the police here said the spate of shooting incidents here can be traced to drug syndicates accusing each other of ratting out their rivals to the police.
Lieutenant Colonel Sherlock Gabana told DNX their records show a total of nine shooting incidents with seven dead and four wounded for the first half of June 2022 alone.
Gabana said their intensified operations have led to drug groups becoming suspicious of and accusing each other of giving information to police about their each other’s operations.
He said that these incidents are not connected to the assumption of the new Bacolod city mayor or the outgoing president Duterte’s war on drugs.
Gabana added that the police cannot account the motives of these crimes to drugs alone as investigations are still on going.
Police had identified six suspects, whose names cannot be disclosed, in the murder cases of Bryan Galido, Jeffrey Keng Seng, Jose Allan Braza, Adonis Matulac, and the wounding of Michael Ramos.
Meanwhile, a pre-charge investigation of suspect Police Master Sergeant Jeff Desucatan is ongoing for the shooting incident on June 19 involving victims Richard Jimenez and Jorem Sibug.
Desucatan was reported to have shot Jimenez to defend himself.
Jimenez was allegedly jealous because of a supposed relationship between his live-in partner and the suspect.
Sibug, on the other hand, was reportedly a by-passer when the incident happened and was accidentally hit by Desucatan’s bullet.
Police Station 4 Chief Police Major Ritchie Gohee said Jimenez filed an affidavit of non-interest while Sibug is anticipated to file a complaint for reckless imprudence resulting to serious physical injury against the policeman.
Findings of police investigation will dictate Desucatan’s punishment. In the mean time, his service fire arms were seized while in custody.
The latest shooting incident happened on the evening of June 19 with Christofer Guanzon, a tricycle driver from Taculing Village as the victim.
He was reportedly about to fetch his family in his tricycle when an unidentified person shot him in the head. Police further stated that the victim is a drug user.
The BCPO spokesperson noted that the police is now taking further measures to prevent shooting incidents in Bacolod such as strengthening personnel deployment, ensuring the conduct of thorough investigations of the murder cases, and increasing police visibility around the city.
