Widow of vigilante killings victim also gunned down in Caloocan

The wife of a man slain at the height of the current administration’s war on drugs was also killed on Wednesday night, Diocese of Kalookan Bishop Pablo David said.

David said that Jennifer Taburada, who according to a Northern Police District (NPD) report was killed by unknown gunmen in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City on Wednesday night, is the wife of Ryan Taburada.

NPD said that Jennifer was shot by two men aboard a motorcycle while she was walking along Peta Street in Barangay 152. She sustained gunshot wounds on the head and the body.

Ryan, on the other hand, was killed a year ago by armed men.

David confirmed the identity of the victim, after a photo of a still unidentified vigilante killings casualty was sent to him just as he was preparing for Mass at the University of Santo Tomas on Thursday morning.

When he saw the photo, David said he was immediately certain that it was Jennifer because she approached him last March to seek a scholarship for her two children.

“She was one of the widows who sought from us a scholarship for her daughter last March.  I remember her clutching in her armpit the death certificate of her husband Ryan, who had also been killed by masked killers a year ago now,” David said in his Facebook post on Thursday.

The bishop, one of the staunch critics of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, alleged that policemen might have been informed of the killings, as it took some time for them to conduct pursuit operations.

“The death squads that killed Jennifer earlier were not even rushing.  If the police in the nearby station wanted to pursue them they had all the time to do so,” David said.

According to David, another person was killed after Jennifer was shot dead.

“The death squads even had time for another operation just a few hours later.  They killed Jennifer at Bgy 152 in Bagong Barrio at 8pm; then they killed another one at 11:30 pm: Alvin Teng, 36 along Katarungan St. Brgy. 149 Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City—just a few blocks away from where they killed Jennifer,” he added.

David lamented that Jennifer and Ryan’s children, are now total orphans.  He also asked prayers for him and his diocese, which he seeks to protect.

“Now her two children, in grade five and grade seven, aged 11 & 13, are complete orphans.  Please pray for us. I feel so sad that I am unable to protect my flock from wolves,” he said. /ee