ROLANDO Canillo, who was gunned down at home in Lapu-Lapu City, was known in the Kuratong Baleleng robbery gang as “Bruno Villanueva” alias “Tambok,” said Senior Supt. Anthony Obenza.
The Lapu-Lapu City police chief was able to trace his identity by sending a photo of the cadaver’s face to police contacts in Manila and Mindanao.
“Because of his mature age, he was considered a pillar of the group,” said Obenza.
The police chief said Canillo , a native of Pampanga, may have angered his former cohorts in the Kuratong Baleleng by leaving and then joining another robbery group in Manila.
Obenza said the slain man was linked to robberies staged in Manila, Cebu and Mindanao.
Police are still verifying a report that Canillo was part of the group that held up a van of managers of MLhuillier pawnshop from Mindanao as their vehicle reached the Marcelo Fernan Bridge in Lapu-Lapu City earlier this year.
When police arrived yesterday at the house, three shooting victims were found bloodied in the living room.
Canillo’s live-in-partner was shot in the face and left shoulder.
Canillo had his right arm around her in an embrace, while holding their toddler son with his left.
The father was shot in the left chest, face, armpit and shoulder.
The boy, Rolando II, was shot in the right eye.
Emma’s teenage brother, who was in the kitchen, survived a gunshot wound in the neck.
Based on the account of one of two children who were hiding in the second floor, the 3-year-old boy was shot after he bit one of the intruders, said PO2 Carlos Barluado, Lapu-Lapu City homicide investigator.
Police said the children recognized one of the assailants as a familiar figure they called “Uncle.”
It was “Uncle” who roughly questioned Canillo in the living room, where the victims were rounded up. Then “Uncle” shot Emma, followed by Canillo and the youngest boy.
Supt. Obenza said that based on family sources, this “Uncle” has been following them since they were in Manila.
The two survivors, a 6-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy, are offspring of Canillo with his first wife.
The children, who managed to run out the house unharmed, are now under the protection of the Lapu-Lapu City women’s desk.
PO2 Barluado said the gunmen searched the house. Except for the empty vault, police said there were no valuables taken from the residence.
Police recovered 22 empty shells of .45-caliber pistol and four deformed slugs.
The slain couple had moved into barangay Babag in January. The house was new. Construction started in September last year.
Supt. Obenza said neighbors were puzzled that the couple had no clear source of income but were able to build a house and operate several taxi units and multicabs for a business.
Sometimes, Canillo would distribute rice for free to trisikad drivers and neighbors. The family first rented a house in barangay Canjulao for six months, before moved to their new house in barangay Babag.
A neighbor told Cebu Daily News she knew the slain woman, Emma, as a manicurist who was kindhearted and gave bread and rice away.
Vergie Jumao-as, 44, said the couple had three children although Cabonilla had six children with his legal wife.
She said Emma had told her that they operated taxi units in Manila and videoke machines in barangay Babag.
A 12-inch by 12-inch vault was removed from a cabinet in the master’s bedroom and found on the dining table yesterday.
The vault was open with its keys still attached. There was nothing left inside.
But several land titles in the name of Cabonilla were found in the bedroom upstairs, said Senior Insp. Leonides Casul, head of the Scene of the Crime Operatives.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza said she has told barangay tanods before the incident to be vigilant of suspicious persons in their areas and to alert the police about any potential trouble.
She said the killings in the household in barangay Babag were an isolated case. Reporter Jucell Cuyos