A man was shot and killed inside a taxicab—in full view of the horrified taxi driver who was not harmed by the gunmen.
The shooting occurred on Saturday afternoon in Cubao, Quezon City, according to a police report.
The taxi driver said that after the shooting, the victim’s companion—a man who got out of the cab just minutes before the gunmen appeared—returned and handed him P500 for the cab fare.
The man then casually walked away.
The taxi driver later rushed the victim to Quirino Memorial Medical Center where the latter was declared dead on arrival due to multiple gunshot wounds.
The taxi driver, who was not identified by the police, then reported the shooting to authorities.
Police Officer 1 Alvin Quisumbing of the Quezon City Police District homicide section said the victim was identified as Aquilies Rosabal based on the identification cards found in his wallet.
Quisumbing said Rosabal was shot at around 2 p.m. at the corner of 18th Avenue and Camarilla Street in Barangay (village) San Roque, Murphy, as he was seated in the back seat of a taxi cab.
The motive for his killing has yet to be established although the police
said it was probably a set-up over a drug deal gone wrong.
The taxi driver told the police that on Saturday afternoon, the victim and his unidentified companion flagged him down on Taft Avenue in Manila and asked him to take them to Cubao, Quezon City.
He added that when they got to the area, both men alighted from the vehicle as they asked him to wait for them.
The taxi driver said that after a few minutes, the victim returned, sat in the back seat and told him that they would wait for his companion.
Shortly afterward, two men appeared and shot the victim repeatedly
in the chest although they did not harm the taxi driver.
The gunmen then got on a motorcycle and drove toward P. Tuazon Street.
The driver said that as he was still trying to determine what had just happened, the victim’s companion returned.
He added that he told the man, “Hoy, nabaril ang kasama mo (Hey, your companion was shot)!” but the man acted as if he heard nothing and gave him P500, for the cab fare.
The man then left without waiting for his change, the driver said.
He told the police that although he did not want to be involved, he decided to bring the victim to the hospital to see if the man could still be saved.