Mayor ‘angry’ after 2 more die in spate of shootings

TWO more killings by motorcycle-riding men in Carbon and Ermita yesterday and a fourth drive-by shooting since Feb. 4 prompted Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to demand an explanation from the police.

“They will have to convince me why I should not feel angry,” said the mayor. “This will go to the top.”

Rama said he wanted to know how the police under Senior Supt. Ramon Melvin Buenafe have been using 40 new motorcycles City Hall released to them last year to step up crime fighting.

Yesterday, a member of the defunct barangay intelligence network (BIN) was shot and killed in Carbon market at noontime.

Catalino Entoma Jr., 39, a resident of barangay Ermita, was shot by a man riding in the back of a motorcycle in the streets of Carbon Market Units 1 and 2.

Entoma was shot several times. He and his girlfirend were walking along the street when the attack occured.

Entoma used to serve as a watch man in a downtown mall. Police said they were looking into revenge as an angle after learning that Entoma had arrested a theft suspect a few weeks ago.

Yesterday, a motorcycle-riding gunman also shot dead a police asset in barangay Ermita.

Michael Moralde, 36, of barangay Pasil, was shot in the buttocks and later died in the hospital.

Moralde was walking along L. Flores Street when two men on a motorcycle arrived and the backrider fired a gun before speeding away.

Four drive-by shootings were reported since Feb. 4, some involving armed men riding a sedan without a plate number.

One person was killed and five others were wounded.

The latest driv-eby shooting happened on Wednesday past 2 a.m. in barangay Kinasang-an, Cebu City.

A 17-year-old from Central Pardo and a 16-year-old from barangay Inayawan were waiting for a jeepney ride home when they were shot in the head and back. They were taken to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) for treatment.

Buenafe said that since the similar incidents happened in the south district, checkpoints have been adjusted. He said police suspect yesterday’s shooting was gang-related /Correspondents Edison delos Angeles and Chito Aragon.