Toll company official slain in bike chase

The Muntinlupa City police are looking into security camera footage and text messages in the hunt for the killers of a tollway company official who was shot dead early Friday.

Rodelio Umali, an assistant traffic supervisor at Manila Toll Expressway Systems Inc., was shot several times in the head and body while driving his motorbike on Commerce Avenue in Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, around 4:30 a.m.

In an interview yesterday, Muntinlupa police chief Senior Supt. Allan Nobleza said security camera footage from fast-food restaurants in the area showed that Umali was chased by two gunmen who were also on motorbike.

As the pair caught up with Umali near the corner of East Asia Drive, the back rider opened fire, he said.

Umali, 42, was hit repeatedly in the back and twice in the head, the bullets piercing his helmet, Nobleza said.

The victim, a resident of Barangay 118 in Tondo, Maynila, was promoted to his position only recently, the police chief said. His company operates South Luzon Expressway.

Nobleza said investigators had also taken note of the some text messages on the victim’s cell phone, which showed Umali being engaged in a heated dispute with another person, whom the official declined to identity in view of the ongoing probe.