5-year-old Francis Mañosca —RAFFY LERMA
An alleged hit man who was shot dead in December has been identified as a possible suspect in the killing of a drug surrenderer and his 5-year-old son in Pasay City, police investigators said on Monday.
Nesty Santiago, 40, a resident of M. dela Cruz Street in Barangay 132, Zone 13, was gunned down by a still unidentified man around 2 a.m. on Dec. 29 in an eatery near his house.
He sustained several gunshot wounds and was declared dead on arrival at Pasay City General Hospital.
Case investigator SPO1 Giovanni Arcinue said Santiago was on the drug watch list. He was reportedly a member of the Onad group which was involved in killings and cases of car theft and robbery/hold-up.
Hours after Santiago was shot, an anonymous caller informed the police that he was involved in the Dec. 11 shooting of drug suspect Domingo Mañosca, 44, which also killed his son, 5-year-old Francis.
Police called in a balut vendor who testified that just before father and son were shot dead, he saw two riders on a motorcycle near Mañosca’s house.
The vendor said the back rider got off and walked toward Mahogany Street where Mañosca lived.
The witness said he later heard gunshots and saw the suspect emerge from the alley and escape with his cohort.
SPO1 Dennis Desalisa, investigator on the Mañosca case, said the witness positively identified Santiago as the motorcycle back rider.
Investigators are still awaiting the results of the ballistics and cross-matching tests on the Norinco .45-cal. recovered from Santiago to confirm the connection.
Mañosca, a pedicab driver, had earlier surrendered to the Pasay police under the government’s “Oplan Tokhang.”
He was fixing a DVD player inside his house on Dec. 11 when someone knocked on the plywood window of their house, his wife said.
When Mañosca asked who it was, the gunman fired through the plywood panel. The bullet struck in the forehead Francis who was asleep on the floor beside his mother and two siblings.
A second bullet hit Mañosca in the nape, exiting through his cheek and killing him. His wife said he was not a pusher although he used “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) to stay awake and work longer hours.