Man, son hurt as woman evading killer enters house

In a desperate attempt to escape from the gunman chasing her on Maria Clara Street in Caloocan City on Saturday morning, Diana Cabingue barged into the nearest house.

The gunman, however, followed her and shot her repeatedly, killing her on the spot.

The owner of the house, Isaias Rabuya, ended up in the hospital with his son, 9-year-old Robil, after stray bullets struck them in the groin and right foot, respectively.

The 31-year-old Cabingue became the seventh shooting victim killed in the city since May 7 — the bloodiest week so far this year with one case reported almost every day.

Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, the vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, told the Inquirer that the rising body count could be a “[sign] that the killings were picking up again.”

Since January, around 70 shootings have been reported in the city, resulting in the relief in March of the police chief, Senior Supt. Jemar Modequillo, for his failure to solve over half of the cases during his six-month tenure.

However, there has been no letup in the incidents even with Senior Supt. Restituto Arcangel now at the helm.

Victim was police informant?

Residents in the area said that Cabingue, who appeared to be living alone, was known to be a police informant although this has yet to be confirmed.

Footage taken by a closed-circuit television camera showed the gunman who was wearing a red cap walking up an alley right beside Rabuya’s house.

Moments later, Cabingue could be seen running down the alley, falling down repeatedly as her assailant shot her.

She barged into Rabuya’s house, followed by the gunman. Seconds later, he ran out of the house.

Saturday’s shooting, however, was not the first attempt on Cabingue’s life. In March, a man shot her in the face, said case investigator PO3 Michael Olpindo.

Coincidentally, that shooting also happened in front of his eatery, Rabuya told the Inquirer.

Although the hit man in Saturday’s shooting did not conceal his face, witnesses said they did not recognize him.

Rabuya told the Inquirer that he couldn’t make out the gunman’s face although he was certain it was not the same one who earlier tried to kill Cabingue.

From his hospital bed at Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, Rabuya appealed for financial assistance as he was expected to remain confined for a month to recover from his wound.

His son, who was released right after treatment, was traumatized by the shooting, according to a relative.

“When we saw [Robil] was shot, the first thing he said was: ‘Pa is hurt! Pa is hurt!’ He saw the whole thing … He watched [Cabingue] getting killed.”

Wrong assumption

“We were so surprised because she just barged into our home,” Rabuya said. “She must have thought she would survive if someone else was around. Instead she almost got us killed.”

Still, he didn’t blame her for wanting to survive.

“So many frightening things are happening these days. You think these happen only in movies. But then you find out that it’s so easy to end up becoming collateral damage. I’m just thankful we survived,” Rabuya said.