Mandaue police look for Ouano slay clues in guns

FOR lack of strong witnesses in the July 22 ambush of Antonio Ouano, Mandaue police are resorting to ballistics tests of handguns belonging to arrested suspects in other crimes.

One of them, Michael Ancero, 29 was arrested yesterday following a motorbike holdup.

Ancero denied any knowledge of the Ouano killing. He was picked up after he was identified by a female robbery victim, who was held up at gunpoint after midnight on Hernan Cortes Street in barangay Tipolo, Mandaue City.

Supt. James Goforth, head of Task Force Ouano, said the police are focusing their search on gun-for-hire groups.

Authorities will subject guns and live bullets to ballistics examination to match with empty shells found in the crime scene where Ouano was killed a few meters from the Cebu International Convention Center.

Another man, Armando Tipon-tipon, was arrested in Medellin town on Wednesday as a suspect in a gun-for-hire group.

Police said they have three potential witnesses in the killing of Ouano, operator of the Ouano wharf, but none of them got a clear view of the shooter in the July 22 ambush, said Senior Insp. Rex Lomente, chief of Investigation and Detection Management Branch (IDMB) in Mandaue.

“For now, we don’t have strong witnesses in the case. Blind pa mi,” he said.

A tricycle driver said he saw the assailant tucking his gun in the waist after the shooting incident before speeding off on a motorcycle.

Another described a man suspiciously entering and watching the Hall of Justice, where Ouano had just attended a hearing.

The third, Ouano’s secretary Nene Mangubat, was in the Toyota HiLux driven by the victim, but told police she didn’t get a good look at the assailants.

“The three witnesses’ testimonies are not enough since they can’t link suspects to the crime. We can’t make any connection if there’s no positive identification,” Lomente said.

But he said police still hope more witnesses will surface.

It was raining heavily when the ambush took place. Other motorists at the scene may have been scared to testify.

Ancero, the man arrested yesterday in Mandaue, is the brother of Dindo Acero, a member of a known holdup group that robbed a bank in Bogo City, said Supt. Goforth, task force head.

Michael was identified by robbery victim Cheryl Saberon, 22. She was fetched by her hired motorcycle driver after midnight when a a red XRM motorcycle blocked them at Hernan Cortes Street.