A homebound 24-year-old Math High School teacher in Ateneo de Manila High School was shot dead in Marikina City on Monday evening.
According to Chief Inspector Eduardo Cayetano, chief of the station investigation Unit of Marikina City Police, Emmanuel Jose Pavia was walking toward his house when a lone “hired” gunman shot him around 7:18 p.m.
Pavia suffered two gunshot wounds in the head and at the back of his body.
Witness Honorato Olaguer, 76, Pavia’s neighbor, told the police he was inside the house when he heard three gunshots. He then saw the lifeless body of Pavia on the ground and rushed him to Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center in Barangay Sto. Niño.
Pavia was declared dead around 8:30pm.
Recovered from the crime scene were 3 pieces fired cartridge cases and a deformed slug of unknown caliber of firearm.
Cayetano said they are looking into the possibility that his being an anti-drug advocate may have something to do with his death.
“He is one of the people strongly advocating against illegal drugs since we started the all-out war against drugs,” Cayetano said.
His relatives and members of the Ateneo community were mourning over his death, describing Pavia as a “very kind” “simple” man, Cayetano said.
The police are currently reviewing the closed circuit television footage in the area. As of posting time, investigators are still at the Ateneo de Manila University investigating.
The president of the Ateneo Homeowners Association who refused to be named said after the incident, they saw a man onboard a motorcycle roaming repeatedly around the area around 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. and early Tuesday morning.
The man, he said, then sat in a gutter and was holding a bayong.
The subdivision where he was killed is just a few meters away from the victim’s residence.
“The gunman perhaps could have planned it since he knew the area was closed, and no bigger vehicles were allowed to pass by the subdivision,” he told the Inquirer.
According to Nora Gonzales, their neighbor for decades who knew the victim since he was young, the victim’s family was very simple, peace-loving and was never engaged in any fight before.
The victim, the eldest of three, was survived by his parents and siblings who also are teachers.
An Ateneo employee who is also a close friend of the family said the victim’s father is a Religion teacher, his mother and second brother, Math and English teachers, respectively. The youngest is still a college student. CDG
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