Witnesses ready to pin down PDEA man’s killer

CEBU City police said they are set to file charges against the suspected assailant of Jessie Tabanao, an information officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), within the week.

“We have three witnesses who expressed their willingness to identify the gunman,” said Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, chief of the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) of the Cebu City Police Office.

Tabanao, a former radio reporter, was fatally shot by a lone gunman as he got down from his SUV in Cebu city last Sept. 14.

Police said the victim met with somebody before he was ambushed.

Santander said witnesses told the police that the gunman was waiting near Escario Street where Tabanao and his acquaintance had met.

After Tabanao’s acquaintance left, the gunman went near and shot the PDEA staff member several times.

Santander said the gunman works for a drug group operating in Central Visayas. Police also cleared the man whom Tabanao met before he was killed, saying he has no links with any drug group.

Katrina Tabanao, the victim’s widow, met with the police yesterday.

“We assured Katrina and her son that we will solve the case,” Santander said. /Correspondent Chito Aragon