Gang targeting Malabon drug suspects

A group targeting suspected drug pushers in Malabon City may have struck again on Friday night, killing a pedicab driver on Delos Santos Street in Tonsuya.

According to case investigator Police Officer 3 Rommel Habig of the Malabon police, 48-year-old Ronaldo Calingal was riding his pedicab when a still unidentified man approached him from behind and shot him in the head around 10:15 p.m.

Calingal died on the spot as the gunman fled. Habig said they were still trying to verify his alleged involvement in the drug trade.

This was after they recovered from the crime scene a .45-cal. pistol and a message on a piece of paper claiming the victim was a drug pusher.

The note read: “Drug pusher, bad influence on the youth, menace to the public. Don’t imitate him. You’re next, get out: Golay, Patrick and Galvez Brothers.”

According to the police, this was the third case in which a man was shot dead, with a note left beside him, alleging his involvement in the drug trade. This prompted them to suspect that a group targeting drug pushers was operating in Malabon City.

Last December, a man identified as Danilo Serrano, 28, was killed after he was shot in the head by two men, also in the city. Found on top of his body was his photo with the words: “Killer. Pusher. Holdupper.”

Barely a month after his death, his younger brother, Ernesto Serrano, was chased by two men who shot him, killing the victim and his
1-month-old baby which he was carrying in his arms. Investigators recovered from him some sachets believed to contain “shabu.”

The police later confirmed that they had received reports that the Serranos were drug pushers although these have yet to be confirmed.