Cops narrow down suspects in Grab driver’s murder

The police have cleared three persons of interest in the murder of Grab driver Gerardo Maquidato Jr. Four others, however, are still under investigation.

Supt. Gene Licud, assistant Pasay police chief for operations, said on Tuesday that the three were believed to be the victim’s last passengers before he was found dead.

The three — aircon technicians who had booked a ride from their workplace in San Juan City to Doña Noneng Street in Pasay City on Oct. 26 — went to the police on Monday night to execute affidavits.

Nothing unusual

They told the police that they found “nothing peculiar” about Maquidato who dropped them off at 7:14 p.m. that night. Their statements were confirmed by footage taken by a closed circuit television camera, Licud said.

He added, however, that four more persons of interest were being investigated based on Maquidato’s three canceled Grab bookings. The pickup points were all in Pasay City.

“After dropping the passengers off on Doña Noneng [Street], Maquidato was booked for three more transactions which were all canceled. We have a good hunch that these four could provide answers to this case,” Licud said.

Maquidato’s body was found at 7:50 p.m. He was sprawled on Bonanza Street, around five kilometers from Doña Noneng, in Barangay 189, Don Carlos Revilla Village.

There was a gunshot wound in the back of his head. The bullet had exited through his left eye.

Primary suspect sighted

A witness said he saw a man, now considered by the police as the primary suspect, get out of the back seat of Maquidato’s Toyota Innova (conduction sticker YV 7109). The man pulled Maquidato’s body from the driver’s seat, dumped it on the street and drove off in the Innova.

Licud said they have yet to recover the Innova although there were already leads on its whereabouts based on their coordination with Task Force Limbas of the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group.

Grab earlier announced a P100,000 reward to anyone who could provide information on Maquidato’s killer.

Maquidato’s act of kindness to a sickly passenger went viral last year, earning him recognition as one of Grab’s best driver-partners.