The Pasay City police said it had brought closure to two more cases of extrajudicial killings (EJKs).
But the thing is, the man they claimed to be behind the two EJKs committed last year could no longer defend himself against that charge—since he also became an EJK victim.
According to the Southern Police District Crime Laboratory, ballistic tests had traced the bullets that killed two drug suspects and a 5-year-old boy to the .45-caliber Narinco pistol used by Nestor Gonzales, alias Nesty Santiago.
Gonzales was tagged as the gunman who killed Michael Jay Araja, 29, of Don Carlos Village in Barangay 190, Pasay, in October 2016; as well as Jenlet Buenaventura, 26, of Barangay 147 in December.
Youngest drug war victim
The attack on Buenaventura’s home also killed his 5-year-old son, who was hit by a stray bullet.
Many considered the boy to be one of the youngest innocent victims of EJKs being linked to President Duterte’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs.
Before the police could arrest Gonzales, however, he was also killed by a still-unidentified assailant on Dec. 29 in front of an eatery on M. Dela Cruz Street near the corner of D. Jorge Street in Barangay 132.
Police said the slain Gonzales was found carrying a loaded .45-caliber Norinco pistol whose serial number had already been defaced.
A sachet of “shabu” was also allegedly found near his body.
They described 45-year-old Gonzales as a member of the Onad gun-for-hire group which was also involved in robbery and car theft.
He was reportedly the cousin of the gang’s leader, Ronaldo “Onad” Santiago, who is detained at Lipa City Jail on murder charges.
In January, the Pasay police also tagged Gonzales as the killer of three more drug suspects last year, including pedicab driver Michael Siaron, 30, who was shot dead on Edsa near the corner of Taft Avenue on July 23.
‘Pieta’ photo
Siaron’s case was later made famous by an Inquirer photo taken by Raffy Lerma, which captured the “Pieta-like” scene of the dead pedicab driver in the arms of his anguished wife. The image was recognized internationally for giving a face to the victims of President Duterte’s war on drugs, which has so far claimed about 7,000 lives.
Gonzales was also held responsible for the death of Jojo de la Peña, 21, and Gilbert Marcelino, 32. The two alleged members of the Sputnik Gang who were shot in separate incidents on Nov. 8 also in Pasay.
Asked what could have driven Gonzales to hunt down his victims, Chief Insp. Rolando Baula, the head of the Pasay police, said the killings may be “drug-related ” since Gonzales was also into drug pushing.
Gonzales was later killed probably to avenge the death of one his victims, the official said.