Physician in Ateneo slays indicted

FOILED ESCAPE | Suspect Chao Tiao Yumol commandeered a car after the attack inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City but was captured by bystanders, whom he tried to run over, on Aurora Boulevard after a brief chase. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The doctor who shot and killed three people, including a former Basilan city mayor, on the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) campus in Loyola Heights, Quezon City, has been formally charged with multiple cases, including three counts of murder.

The Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office made the recommendation on Wednesday against Chao Tiao Yumol, just two days after he underwent inquest proceedings for the killing of former Lamitan City Mayor Rosita Furigay, her aide Victor Capistrano and Ateneo security guard Jeneven Bandiala, 35. No bail was recommended for the murder charges.

For shooting and wounding Furigay’s daughter, Hannah Rose, the 38-year-old doctor from Lamitan was also charged with frustrated murder with bail set at P200,000.

On top of these, Yumol also faces a car theft charge with no bail recommended after he commandeered a vehicle to flee from the crime scene. For the other charges of illegal possession of firearms and malicious mischief, bail was set at P60,000 and P3,000, respectively.

While awaiting the commitment order from the Quezon City court for his transfer to a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility, Yumol will remain in the Quezon City police headquarters at Camp Karingal.

Meta’s policyPolice investigation showed that Yumol shot Furigay and the other victims on the Ateneo campus on Sunday afternoon. The former mayor was there to attend the graduation of her daughter, Hannah Rose, from Ateneo law school.

Yumol tried to escape after the shooting but he was arrested after a chase. Seized from him were a 9 mm pistol and a .45-caliber with a silencer.

While the 9 mm pistol belonged to him, the .45-caliberhandgun was registered to an Army lieutenant who claimed he lost the firearm in November 2019 while in Patikul, Sulu.

Yumol earlier accused Furigay of “selling drugs in our province” and “destroying the lives of the youth.”

In his verified Facebook account with more than 70,000 followers, he expressed his support for President Marcos and former President Rodrigo Duterte, especially the latter’s drug war, while constantly deriding former Vice President Leni Robredo. Some of his followers defended his actions and even hailed him as a hero, saying the killings were justified.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said on Wednesday that it deactivated the accounts belonging to Yumol.

“[W]e designated the shooting incident under our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy, which means we will continue to remove content that praises, supports or represents the shooting or the identified suspect,” it said in a statement.

gsg