‘Pusher’ slain in Pasig 2 days after surrendering to cops

MANILA — A man who earlier presented himself to the police because he was on their list of suspected drug pushers was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Barangay Rosario, Pasig City, last Wednesday.

Fernando Alfonso, 51, took three bullets in the head while on a bike on Bernal Street on his way home, a report reaching Senior Supt. Orlando Yebra, Jr., the city police chief, stated.

Two men on a motorbike were seen staging the ambush before fleeing toward C. Raymundo Avenue.

Yebra said Alfonso was put on the watch list and he surrendered to authorities under the Oplan Tokhang anti-drug campaign two days before he was killed.

But he continued in his illegal drug activities, Yebra said in an interview. “Surrendering does not mean stopping. That’s why we had to do continuous monitoring and followups.”

Investigators have been looking at all possible angles, he said, including the possibility that he was killed for failing to “remit” drug payments to his sources or that a police “protector” might be behind the attack.

Alfonso became the 26th victim of vigilante-style killings recorded by the Eastern Police District — which covers Pasig, Mandaluyong, Marikina and San Juan — since July 1.

The EPD said it had arrested 197 people in the 101 anti-drug operations conducted in the same period. Nine suspects targeted in those operations were shot dead by the police because they allegedly fought back.  SFM/rga