Gunmen attack as Masbate mayor’s live-in partner, sister move out of Cebu pier

The violence that usually punctuate politics in Masbate province spilled over to Cebu City yesterday after motorcycle-riding assailants fatally shot the reported common-law wife of a town mayor and wounded a town councilor.

Crisanta Lauro, who is said to be from Danao City, was pronounced dead by doctors at Chong Hua Hospital. She was shot in the nape with the bullet exiting from her temple while another entered her left chest and pierced her heart, homicide investigator SP01 Victor Ayuman said.

Police said Lauro, 39 is the common-law wife of Mayor Herminigildo Betonio III of Pio V. Corpuz town in Masbate. The victim was reportedly two months pregnant.

Leny Betonio Eser, the mayor’s sister and a last-term councilor of the town, sustained a bullet wound on the left hand.

Eser told policemen that politics could be the motive of the shooting.

“Politika gyud ang iyang gituuhan nga motibo,” Ayuman said.

Police said the two women were on their way to Talisay City where the Betonio couple owns a house after disembarking from a Lapu-Lapu Shipping Lines ferry shortly before 5 a.m. Yesterday.

They boarded a Ken taxicab outside the gate of Cebu City’s pier 3 and asked to be taken to Talisay City.

According to the taxi driver, Gilbert Pernito, they were waiting for the traffic signal light to turn green at the corner of Vicente Sotto St. and Sergio Osmeña Boulevard when the assailants appeared on the driver side and started firing.

“Mga 30 to 45 seconds tingali niabot ang motor sa akong kilid.  So ako lang hunahuna ato nga paingon to sila mu-go. Pagkataud-taod buto man sa luyo nako … pagbuto, mura kog na-shock ba. Mibuhagay man ang bildo, giusban sa ikaduha, pagtan-aw nako, pusil man. Mao tong kambiyo dayon ko sa pirmira  padagan dayon ko,” he said.

(The motorcycle appeared around 30-45 seconds after we stopped to wait at the intersection. I thought they were also waiting for the signal to turn green then suddenly there was gunfire from our rear …I was shocked. when I looked back, I saw a gun. I immediately shifted my gear and sped away.)

The driver said the assailants fired at least four shots. The cab’s rear windscreen was shattered.

Police recovered three empty shells from a .45 caliber pistol on the crime scene.

‘We were monitored’

The taxi driver said he radioed for help as he was speeding towards the hospital.

“Ang among taxi naa may radio, nagsige ko og break sa base nga back-up og police kay gipamusil mi. Pero sige nakong dagan, ang akong wala nga kamot maoy gahawid sa manobila  ug ang akong tuo nagunit sa handset sa radio ug kambyada,” he said.

(Our taxis are equipped with radio and I kept on calling our base operator to ask for police assistance. My left hand was on the wheel while my right was on the handset and transmission stick.)

The driver said he was not aware if  the gunmen chased them.

While rushing to the hospital, a distraught Eser was trying to talk to the bloodied Lauro who was no longer responding.

He said he heard Eser saying that they were “monitored”.

“Tan-awa Mai… tan-awa Mai… gi-monitor diay ta, gisundan diay ta, maayo pa wa lage ta mangari,” Pernito recalled Eser as saying.

(Look Mai … we were being monitored, somebody’s tailing us. We should not have come here.)

Pernito said that while the suspects were not wearing helmets, he could not recognize them.

“Motan-aw gyud ko sa namusil? Kinsa  pa may ganahan motan-aw nga pusil naman na. Ang ako gyung pagtuo adto nga iapil gyud ko ato, iapil gyud ko ato mao tong naningkamot gyud kog pasirit sa taxi nga akong gidala aron di maapsan,” Pernito said when asked if he saw the gunmen.

(Can you still afford to stop and look at the gunmen? Who would like to see them? I strongly believed that they will also shoot me that’s why I was determined to speed away.)

Eser was sitting behind the driver while Lauro was on the passenger side’s backseat.

The driver said he believes that the assailants specifically targeted Lauro since it was Eser who was closest to them and would have been an easier target.

Driver’s worry

The taxi driver was worried that the police might consider him an accessory to the crime after he heard Eser raising the suspicion before investigators.

Pernito said he went to the pier from Mactan Cebu International Airport to look for passengers and was looking for customers who will go to Talisay City where the taxi company is based as he was about to end his shift.

That’s why, Pernito said, he even asked the victims if they were heading for Talisay City.

“Ngano kono nga nakahibalo ko  nga para Talisay sila? Na-misinterpret lang tingali nila ang ilang pagsabot. Kay ang akong giingon: ‘Para Talisay mo, Ma’am?’ kay kani laging  mangiyawat nga makadala ta og pasahero para pabor sa biyahe,” he added.

(I heard the survivor asking the police why did I know that they were going to Talisay. She probably misinterpreted me when I asked them: ‘Are you bound for Talisay, Ma’m?’ as it was really my intention to look for passengers who will go my way.)

Because of the incident, Pernito said he has sought permission from his taxi company that he will temporarily stop riding his shift.

Pernito said he has been driving a taxi for more than 20 years and he had not even experienced getting robbed.

“Di pa gyud ingon nga nahuwasan, kay ang kakulba wa pa gyud mawala, kay ang akong hunahuna iapil man gyud ko. Sa tibuok nakong kinabuhi sir karon pa ko kasugat og ingon ani, labaw pa ni sa tulis,” he said.

(I’m still in shock and I still fear for my life. In the years that I’ve been on the road, this is the first time I encountered such a crime. This is far worse than getting robbed.) /Jhunnex Napallacan, Correspondent with correspondent Chito Aragon