Movie star’s sister shot dead in antidrug war

At least four persons were added to the list of casualties in the administration’s controversial antidrug war, among them a woman identified by police as the sister of movie star Maritoni Fernandez.

The woman, Ma. Aurora Moynihan, was found dead by authorities along Temple Drive corner Giraffe Street in Barangay Ugong Norte with multiple gunshot wounds and a cardboard placard warning drug peddlers who cater to celebrities that “they will be next.”

Quezon City police chief Guillermo Eleazar said the victim was said to be the sister of British-Filipino movie star Maritoni Fernandez and was suspected of being a supplier of ecstasy and other party drugs to show biz personalities.

The Moynihan girls are the daughters of the late Antony Moynihan, a British baron. Their uncle, Colin Moynihan, is former chairman of the British Olympic Association.

Two witnesses told a Quezon City police investigator they saw a silver Toyota Fortuner pull over at the crime scene at around 1:40 a.m.  A few minutes later, they heard gunshots and saw the car speed off toward White Plains Avenue. They did not take note of the vehicle’s license plate.

Police said Moynihan, 45, a resident of Ecology Village along Edsa Boulevard in Makati City, was apparently onboard the vehicle before she was shot dead and pushed out by the still unidentified suspects.

Police said they would try to access footage from closed-circuit television cameras in the area to get leads on the identities and possible whereabouts of the suspects.

Moynihan’s death came just a few hours after Eleazar presented on Friday three drug suspects believed to supply ecstasy and other party drugs to “well-off personalities.” The suspects—Philip Salonga, Nathaniel Adrian Cruz and Edward Nelson Jose—were arrested in separate drug bust operations and yielded a total of 80 ecstasy tablets, estimated to cost P120,000.

Eleazar said they are currently monitoring celebrities for their supposed links to the narcotics trade.

Meanwhile, two persons were killed by policemen allegedly when they were accosted for “having an ongoing drug session,” while another was shot for running away from police who tried to frisk him.

One, identified as Alex Acosta, was allegedly spotted having a drug session inside his own home along Mendez road in Barangay Baesa, Quezon City.

Another fatality, identified as Romy Bucao, was shot outside a house on Anggulo Street, Binondo, at around 3:30 p.m.

A fourth fatality was an unidentified man who ran away when police tried to frisk him in Barangay Daanghari, Navotas, at around 9:45 p.m.  He was hit by bullets in different parts of the body and head.