Mistaken identity, trade eyed as motives in slay

Business deals that went awry, a love triangle and a case of mistaken identity are  some of the theories police are exploring  in Friday’s gunslaying of a businesswoman in Mandaue City.

Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, Mandaue City police chief, said the real target of the ambush could have been Crisostomo Alcala, the  39-year-old live-in partner of slain businesswoman Iris Marie Hugo Gonzales (not Hugo as earlier reported).

Gillamac cited Alcala’s record as a fixer in the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Mandaue City.

“Alcala was arrested and detained before at a Mandaue City police precinct since he faced many complaints in the LTO for fake registrations and licenses,” he said.

He said  the two motorcycle-riding assailants may have presumed Alcala was at the wheel when they fired three times  at the tinted window of the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Gillamac said one of the killers was heard uttering “buhi pa (still alive)” when Alcala got down  the van, indicating that he may have  been their actual target.

Gonzales, 37, who  drove the Starex van, was shot in the head.

Witnesses told police the shooter  tried to reload his  gun, but the gunmen fled when they noticed the presence of a traffic enforcer and policemen.

The businesswoman and Alcala were  separated from their spouses and lived together, said police.

Gillamac said investigators  will also look into Gonzales’  business dealings. The businesswoman owned the Mandaue City-based Stockland International Furniture.

No sketches were made of the  perpetrators, whose faces were covered by a crash helmet and a ski mask.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said the attack was an eye-opener for police who need to be pro-active in their campaign against  crime.

The ambush took place at a busy intersection during rush-hour traffic on a Friday past 6 p.m.  The site was 300 meters from the Mandaue City police headquarters, where the police were holding their  Annual General Inspection (AGI) training.

Police had even set up road blocks to respond to a robbery alarm that turned out to be a false alarm.

Insp. Ramil Morpos, deputy chief of the Investigation and Detection Management Branch (IDMB) in Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), said the victim’s 60-year-old uncle Teddy Hugo confirmed that his niece and Alcala were married to different spouses.

Morpos said Gonzales’s lawyer Chauncey Boholst told them that her client had filed criminal and labor charges against a person.  Police declined to give details  pending  investigation.

Three cell phones were taken from the Starex van along with Gonzales’s HP computer laptop for closer examination by the police.

An elderly traffic enforcer who was near the ambush site will also be tapped as witness, Morpos said.

Aside from Alcala, the other Starex van passengers were Roel Relavo, of San Fernando town and Gonzales’s secretary Irene Alcoba.

Alcala and Relavo were  fetched by the victim together with her secretary Alcoba from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in barangay Looc, Mandaue City, minutes before the attack.

They were bound for  Argao town where the businesswoman owned a  piggery.