METROBRIEFS

Retired cop shot dead

Two unidentified armed men gunned down a 57-year-old retired policeman in Malabon City on Saturday night. The victim, identified as Senior Police Officer 3 Henriquito Vergara, a resident of Tondo, Manila, was found dead at 9:15 p.m. Saturday, with seven bullet wounds in the head and two in the chest. Police Inspector Delta Navarra said the victim was assigned at the Manila Police District before he retired from service last year. Initial investigation showed that Vergara was walking along Magsaysay St. in Barangay (village) San Agustin, Malabon City, with his 16-year-old helper when two men on foot appeared, shot him repeatedly and fled. Navarra said Vergara died on the spot. Spent shells of a .45-cal. pistol were found at the crime scene. “We have no clues on the motive of the killers. Judging from the number of bullets fired, the assailants made sure the victim would die,” Navarra said. According to his family and relatives, the victim had no known enemy and was simply “enjoying his retirement from police work.”—Niña Calleja

Drive-by shooting

A 26-year-old man was killed and another hurt in a drive-by shooting in Quezon City early Saturday evening, a police report said. Senior Police 0fficer 2 Neil Garnace of the Quezon City Police District identified the fatality as Richard Endoy, 26, a resident of Bansalangin St., Barangay (village) Payatas B, Quezon City. The victim was rushed to the Fairview General Hospital but was declared dead on arrival by attending doctors. Garnace said the victim sustained two gunshot wounds in the chest and two in the legs. A friend of the victim identified as Joel Torres, 25, was shot in the buttocks. Investigation showed the victims were talking in front of a house along Bansalangin street in Payatas at around 6:30 p.m. when two suspects armed with short firearms on a motorcycle indiscriminately fired at them as they passed by. Garnace said they have yet to determine the motive for the drive-by shooting.—Nancy Carvajal

Car dealer guard killed

A security guard of a car dealership outlet was killed before dawn on Sunday in Tondo, Manila. Luis Catunao, 28, a Cavite resident and assigned to the Toyota branch at Jose Abad Santos Avenue, was shot dead by two unidentified suspects at around 3:55 a.m. Catunao sustained fatal gunshot wounds in the head and chest, said case investigator Senior Police Officer 1 Gerardo Rivera of the Manila Police District Homicide Section. Rivera said Catunao and fellow security guard Zaldy Pelone, 28, of Muntinlupa City, were attacked by a motorcycle-riding tandem at the back of the building. The suspects also fired at Pelone but missed. The suspects fled toward Batangas St., Tondo. “We don’t know the motive yet but we are studying the possibility of an attempted burglary,” Rivera said.—Jaymee T. Gamil

Driver shot dead over side mirror

A jeepney driver was shot dead by a drunken young man in Tondo, Manila, after the vehicle’s side mirror hit the suspect. Victim Enrico Terible, 33, of Caloocan City, died of a gunshot wound on the neck after the still unidentified youth attacked him at 10 p.m. on Saturday. Terible, along with his friend and witness Milky Pancho, was cruising along the corner of Juan Luna and Laguna streets in Gagalangin, Tondo, when the vehicle passed by a group of seemingly drunken men walking along the road. The jeepney’s side mirror hit the suspect. Outraged, the youth pulled a pen gun from his waist and immediately shot Terible, said case investigator Police Officer 2 Jayson Ibasco of the Manila Police District Homicide Section. The suspect and his companions immediately fled. Terible was rushed to the Ospital ng Maynila, but was declared dead on arrival.—<Jaymee T. Gamil

Skyway implements ‘Balik-Eskwela’

Skyway O & M Corp. (Somco) will implement its annual “Oplan Balik-Eskwela” to cope with the expected high volume of vehicles on the elevated and at-grade sections of the Skyway System including the roads connected to it, in time for the return from the provinces of vacationing students and the start of classes on Monday. Somco expects even better traffic flow during the implementation of the program this year compared with last year, now that the Skyway Stage 2 elevated section from Bicutan to Alabang is already open to motorists. The at-grade section is also free of construction activities and has been extensively improved, resulting in faster travel time, except for a portion of the Bicutan area where the temporary ramps are currently being dismantled. Oplan Balik-Eskwela is a joint effort of Somco, with the support of police units of nearby local government units (LGUs), the Highway Patrol Group (HPG), Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) and Lifeline Ambulance Rescue Inc. (Lari). There will be additional LGU, police and HPG motorcycle police units at the interchanges. AAP and Lari, which provide towing and emergency medical services to Skyway System motorists, will be on standby as usual. For assistance on the Skyway System, motorists are advised to call 776-7777.