Metrobriefs

Ex-barangay official in Mandaluyong shot dead

A former kagawad (councilor) died after he was shot by one of two still unidentified men on a motorcycle in Mandaluyong City Tuesday, the police said. The victim, Gregorio de la Cruz, a former official of Barangay Vergara, was driving on Aglipay Street in Barangay Poblacion when he was shot at around noon. The gunman and his companion then escaped. De la Cruz is the cousin of the incumbent chair of Barangay Vergara, the police said. The victim was rushed to Mandaluyong Medical Center but he died of his injuries. Kristine Felisse Mangunay

Bodies of suspected ‘salvage’ victims found

The bodies of a man and a woman who were believed to be victims of summary execution were discovered before dawn Tuesday, ironically in front of a building housing a law group which seeks to eradicate injustice in the city of Manila. Both had been strangled and smothered to death. The couple were found in front of the Aegis Juris law foundation building at the corner of Laong Laan and Navarra Streets in Sampaloc. Manila Police District homicide section investigators described the male victim as between 35 and 40 years old, 5 foot tall, of slim build and dressed in a white T-shirt worn over a pair of denim pants. The female victim was described as between 30 and 35 years old, 5’ 2” tall, with a tattoo sporting a tribal design on the ankle. She was clad in a gray T-shirt with the words  “Silence me with your lips please every time” worn over a pair of black pants. Case investigator PO2 Bernardo Cayabyab said that the victims had blue nylon cords and packaging tapes looped around their necks. The woman’s face, however, was covered with tape. The bodies were found at 4:50 a.m. by  motorists who immediately informed barangay watchmen. Jeannette I. Andrade

Man in cowboy hat kills ex-inmate

A “COWBOY” shot and killed on Monday afternoon a 21-year-old former inmate of the Manila City Jail (MCJ) on a busy road in Manila. The cowboy hat-wearing gunman reportedly made sure that Kenneth Talaga, a construction helper and member of the Sputnik Gang, was dead before he casually walked away, the police said. PO3 Alonzo Layugan of the Manila Police District homicide section said that the shooting happened on Monday afternoon in front of the main gate of Harbor Center on Road 10 in Tondo. Talaga was sitting on the sidewalk and talking to someone on his cell phone when a man in a cowboy hat approached him from behind and shot him in the head. “After the suspect made sure that the victim was already dead, he casually walked away and crossed the road,” the case investigator said. The victim’s 50-year-old mother, Rose, told police investigators that her son was released a month ago from the MCJ where he  was detained on a robbery charge. The body was brought to a funeral parlor for autopsy and safekeeping as investigators conducted follow-up operations for the identification and arrest of the gunman. Jeannette I. Andrade