Like his one and only sibling, Petronio Rosales Jr. turned out to be a target.
The brother of a woman who was shot dead in a jeepney in July was also gunned down by still-unidentified assailants outside a Makati City bar past midnight on Wednesday.
The police are looking at a possible connection between the two killings, noting that Rosales had been making follow-ups on the unsolved case of younger sister Lauren Kristel for the past several weeks.
Rosales was with a female companion waiting for a car outside Dellherts bar and restaurant at the corner of Yakal and Talisay Streets, Barangay San Antonio, when he was shot in the temple by one of the two motorcycle-riding men who approached him at 12:35 a.m.
According to the case investigator, PO3 Rolando Villaranda, Rosales was set to return on Friday to London where he and his wife were working.
Since arriving in the country three months ago, Rosales had been checking on the progress of the police investigation into Kristel’s killing, the officer added.
He went to the bar on Tuesday night to meet former co-workers, Villaranda said.
Around 7 a.m. on July 21, the 26-year-old Lauren Kristel was shot twice in the back by a fellow jeepney passenger at the corner of J.P. Rizal and N. Garcia (Reposo) streets, also in Makati. A stray bullet grazed the leg of another female passenger.
The police report then noted that the victim, a resident of Sta. Ana, Manila, was carrying a bag full of clothes, which her attacker didn’t touch. The .38-cal. pistol used was recovered at the crime scene.
PO3 Arnis Ojastro, who handles Lauren Kristel’s case, said Petronio constantly communicated with him and that they last spoke at 5:35 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Makati police on Wednesday formed the 10-member Task Group Rosales, with Villaranda and Ojastro among the investigators. It is headed by Supt. Angelo Germinal, the assistant police chief for operations; and Chief Insp. Rommel Resurreccion, the investigation section head.
Both Villaranda and Ojastro said their strongest lead suggested that the killings stemmed from a property dispute.