Overkill? Drug suspect shot 23x

When shot after shot rang out around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, residents on Capt. Sixto Cuevas Street in Pasig City initially thought that someone had set off a firecracker.

Then came a sobering discovery: The bloodied body of 34-year-old Marbon Mamucod, a drug user who had earlier surrendered to barangay officials under “Oplan Tokhang.” He had been shot at least 23 times, the police said.

Mamucod was walking on the street when he was gunned down by two men on motorcycles, according to a report submitted to Eastern Police District director Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula.

The victim was pronounced dead on the spot by members of the Pasig City Emergency Rescue unit who rushed to the scene.

Witnesses said they heard what seemed to be fireworks before they discovered Mamucod’s body sprawled on the street. “We thought we heard 13 gunshots but the police recovered 23 spent shells,” one of his relatives told the Inquirer.

Although some family members admitted that the victim was a drug user, they objected to the way he was killed.

“It was overkill. Two shots were enough to kill him but 23? That’s too much. They could have left my brother the moment he fell but they kept on shooting. He was on the watchlist. He used drugs but that was not a license to kill him. He was slaughtered on the road like a pig,” an angry relative who refused to be identified told the Inquirer.

According to the police report, Mamucod was on the drug watchlist of Barangay Kalawaan as a drug user and pusher.

The family said they do not have an idea who would want the victim dead. He left behind three children, the youngest just 8 years old.

The family said they would not pursue a case against Mamucod’s killers for their own safety. “We will leave it to God,” a relative added.

Meanwhile, a 69-year-old drug suspect and former member of the Public Order and Safety department of the Mandaluyong City government was killed by authorities after he lobbed a grenade at them on Monday afternoon.

A report submitted to Senior Supt. Joaquin Alva, Mandaluyong police chief, identified the suspect as Johnny Montecalvo, a resident of Block 37, Barangay Welfareville Compound. He was shot dead in a buy-bust operation inside his house.

Chief Insp. Ricardo Cristobal, chief of the Mandaluyong police’s Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Task Group, said that Montecalvo was about to sell P200 worth of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) to PO2 Mark Banawan when he became suspicious.

The policeman claimed that the suspect took out a grenade and threw it at him, forcing him to shoot. Fortunately, the explosive did not go off as the pin was still there, Cristobal said.

The operation was conducted in coordination with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agents based on a tip from residents that Montecalvo’s place was being used as a drug hub by both users and pushers.

Recovered from the scene were two sachets of shabu and illegal drug paraphernalia.