2 dead, 1 hurt in SLEX shooting

CAMP PACIANO RIZAL, Sta. Cruz, Laguna—A patrolman of the Metro Toll Expressway System and a civilian motorist were killed while another patrolman was wounded when unidentified men opened fire at them along the South Luzon Expressway in Calamba City, Laguna, on Wednesday night, police said Thursday.

Supt. Joel Pernito, Calamba City police chief, said Lorenzo Amoncio, 30, sustained a gunshot wound in the back and died at the Calamba Medical Center.

Motorist Reynaldo Cabalsa, on the other hand, was hit in the head and died on the scene.

Amoncio’s companion, Dennis Boy Tala, 35, was recuperating from a gunshot wound on his shoulder,

Both Amoncio and Tala were employees of MATES, the operations and management arm of the South Luzon Tollways Corp., which operates SLEx.

Pernito, in a phone interview , said Cabalsa, who was flagged down by the two patrolmen for a traffic violation, pulled over along the expressway in Barangay Batino at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

While the patrolmen were issuing Cabalsa a traffic ticket, an unknown number of men onboard a white hatchback car opened fire at the victims with M-16 rifles.

The patrolmen were unarmed.

Pernito said their initial investigation showed that Amoncio and Tala were the suspects’ targets and the motorist was just caught in the crossfire.

He declined to give further details as follow-up operations by the Laguna police and the National Bureau of Investigation in Laguna were ongoing.

He said MATES is also conducting its own investigation.

SLTC spokesperson Alma Tuason said MATES has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident and as to why the patrolmen were not issued service firearms while on duty.

It was learned that patrolling personnel along SLEx were issued firearms when the management was still under the Philippine National Construction Corp., the former operator of the expressway.