Drug war still on in Pasig? Hit men kill 2

Two men, both listed as drug suspects by the police, were killed by motorcycle-riding assailants while two female bystanders were wounded in separate attacks in  Rosario, Pasig City, on Tuesday.

Joven Canizares, 34, was shot dead around 5:30 p.m. while walking along Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue, where he also resided, according to a report to the Eastern Police District director, Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula.

Two of his neighbors—Mary Anne Cruz, 46, and Marivic Miape, 34—were walking nearby when they were hit by stray bullets. They were hospitalized for gunshot wounds in the stomach and thigh, respectively, and were in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon.

Chief Insp. Roberto Garcia, chief of Pasig police investigation unit, said Canizares was a suspected drug pusher who was on the police watch list.

But the victim’s family maintained that Canizares only used drugs  and that he already stopped a long time ago. “He can’t even buy food. If he’s a pusher, he should be rich now,” said Junior Tilan, a cousin.

“It’s still the police who killed him. I don’t believe a drug syndicate did this,” Tilan said. “They told the media there are no more antidrug operations. That’s just for show. They still kill drug suspects.”

Canizares was a father of two children aged 9 and 11.

About five hours after Canizares was killed, another man being linked to the drug trade was shot dead also on Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue.

The police said Reynaldo Soriano, 56, was with a companion, Lito Mendoza, when two men got off their motorbikes and shot Soriano several times. He was already dead by the time a rescue team arrived.

Garcia said Soriano was also on the drug watch list of Barangay Rosario.