Special Report: Vigilante killings: Unsolved crimes in the city

Since the first victim of vigilante killing on December 22, 2004, the number of people killed in Cebu City, allegedly by vigilantes, has reached 131 to date.

And with the count seemingly not stopping yet, the Cebu City Police Office has been a failure in identifying any of these killers, who have been tagged as vigilantes for reason of similar pattern in the killing and the similarity of character backgrounds of victims.

Most of those killed were known drug personalities and robbers in their respective places of residence, and many had criminal records, with the notoriety of going in and out of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center.

The killers have been identified only as men on motorcycles, hiding their faces with masks or helmets, and armed with high-powered handguns.

But while these killings keep a steady frequency, they remain unsolved to this day and vigilantism itself has taken a permanent tag to these crimes, which already frustrated the police.

The Crime Against Persons Desk chief, Insp. Mario Monilar, said follow-up investigations have been implemented up to now, as they also persuade witnesses to come out in the open to help in resolving these so-called vigilante killings.

The police have been frustrated because, while they know there are some witnesses, they could not just make these witnesses cooperate in identifying the perpetrators.

Monilar, however, assured the public that the police have been exploring all ways to resolve the killings and put an end to these gruesome occurrences in the city.

The Vigilante Victims

Of the 131 in the list of victims, only the cases in the killing of Noel Arda, Rogelio Pardillo and Dominador Villamor Jr. were filed in court after witnesses have pinpointed the suspects.

Six others in the list had survived the attack but these victims could not also identify who tried to kill them. They are Alemar Luna, Raul Dayanco, Arcelino Mainit, Bambi Edar, Roel Ardemer Cabrera, and Lyndon Sanjorjo-the recent victim.

The police almost got an early solution on the shooting of Luna who, not only survived but also was attacked in the presence of his friends. Luna claimed that he was able to fire back at the suspect whom he later identified as a Cebu City policeman.

But the police got frustrated when Luna's friends and family were invited for deliberation on the case, only his wife Maritess and an aunt appeared but only to deny any knowledge of the incident.

When the police asked for the whereabouts of Luna, his wife only replied he had already checkout of the hospital but would not say where he was.

The police also invited the policeman whom Luna alleged as his assailant, but the accused failed to appear because the wife said he was out of town.

Mainit, another survivor, was reputed as a robbery suspect in Carbon Market preying on jeepney passengers. An unidentified masked man attacked him at close range. The following day, he was still sent to BBRC for a robbery case.

Mainit's live-in partner Irene Caballes appeared in police office and disclosed that the gunman was a certain Joel Largo, who was subsequently indicted for a frustrated murder case. Largo has beaten the law however and is now believed hiding somewhere in Aloguinsan town.

Dayanco, another survivor, said that four unidentified masked men on a motorcycle came to his place at Salvador Extention in barangay Labangon last October 15. He was able to escape from his assailants who started shooting him as he entered the room of his brother Michael Agacita who was sleeping at the time.

His brother was shot dead but Dayanco slipped out of the house by jumping through the window.

Edar, another victim who survived a vigilante attack on March 2, 2005, was with his neighbor Ronaldo Gonzaga in barangay Sambag. He survived but Gonzaga died from the shooting.

However, the vigilantes did not stop and attacked him again on July 29, 2005, succeeding this time. Edar was a known snatcher along P. Del Rosario Street and at the Citilink terminal.

Cabrera, a resident of F. Villa Street in barangay T. Padilla, also survived the vigilante attack last March 8 while sitting on a bench by the roadside, and talking to his bother.

Cabrera said the assailant had a bonnet on the face. He said that when the man shot and hit him on the chest and left arm, he still managed to run towards the interior portion of the place where neighbors came up to him and rushed him to a nearby hospital.

The latest to survive a vigilante attack was Sanjorjo who was with his friend Samuel Motos walking near a department store in Colon Street when two men on a motorcycle fired at them.

He survived because the assailant did not shot him further after he pretended to be dead. Motos was shot several times more when he jumped off a creek. Of the two, only Motos has a record for robbery at the BBRC.

While vigilantes have been known to run only after those people who have criminal records, there was a case of mistaken identity, as the one on Raimero Aguilar.

Two men on motorcycle shot at Aguilar who was with wife Arlene at sitio Mojon in barangay Tisa on August 20, last year. Based on investigations, the victim was never involved in illegal activities, but his brother.

Monilar said information gathering plays an important role in criminal investigation, but witnesses have been reluctant to testify to the police for fear of reprisals from the suspects.

With the absence of information, the police will have difficulty in resolving the cases, and they could not just coerce anyone to testify without any basis.

The police have been inviting the immediate relatives of the victims and other witnesses, but most of them adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards issuing statements of what they might know of the killings.

Monilar said vigilante killings might have occurred because the public seemed frustrated over the judiciary system that made criminals run away free from their crimes. - Flor Z. Perolina