Gunmen add 2 couples to drug war toll

Unidentified gunmen killed a total of six people—including two couples who were later linked by the police to illegal drugs—in attacks carried out in three cities from Tuesday night to early Wednesday morning.

Live-in partners Jaylord Clemente, 33, and Marlyn Cortez, 33, of Don Carlos Village in Pasay City were shot in an alley near their home on Cessna Street around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

The case investigator, SPO1 Dennis Desalisa, said officials in the barangay hall heard a burst of gunfire, after which a concerned citizen arrived to report the shooting.

Clemente died on the spot while Cortez was brought to Pasay City General Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.

Quoting barangay councilor Levie Navarro, the Pasay police said the two victims were engaged in the illegal drug trade and that Clemente was earlier detained in Parañaque City Jail for selling drugs.

Also in Pasay, another suspected drug pusher who was included in the barangay watch list was killed by two gunmen inside his house around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Christopher Suasin, 41, a resident of Waling-Waling Street, Pildera 1, Barangay 192, Zone 20, was sleeping in his room when two assailants barged in.

Suasin was brought by his live-in partner to Protacio General Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival at 8:05 p.m., PO2 Alfredo Aquino Jr. said.

In Quezon City, live-in partners who earlier surrendered to the police under the “Oplan Tokhang” antidrug campaign suffered the same fate.

Two pistol-wielding men wearing face masks and caps broke into the house of Reynaldo Santos Jr. and Divinia Lucena on Kasunduan Street near the corner of Katipunan in Barangay Commonwealth around 8 p.m.

Santos, 46, was shot twice on the chest while Lucena, 45, sustained a gunshot wound on her head.

A report from the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) said Santos and Lucena were watching TV when two attackers entered and fired at the couple.

Witnesses told the police that a third man served as a lookout for the shooters.

Recovered from the scene were six bullet casings and a white bond paper placed near the bodies and bearing the message: “Pusher kami, wag tularan.”

Records from the QCPD Station 6 in Batasan showed that Lucena and Santos surrendered to the station on Aug.  2 in compliance with Oplan Tokhang and that they were referred to barangay officials for “monitoring.”

In Pasig City, a man who was also on the drug watch list was shot dead by four gunmen who barged into his Barangay Rosario residence around 9 p.m. Tuesday.

In a report to Senior Supt. Orlando Yebra Jr., the city police chief, 35-year-old Ronaldo Velasco was shot at his house on Javier Compound, Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue, while he asleep next to his live-in partner.