CEBU, Philippines - The police yesterday believed that the men who shot and killed Manuel Ting Tuesday afternoon were the ones who shot and injured his younger brother, Nicolas, less than 24 hours earlier on Monday night.
Sr. Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, spokesperson and head of Task Force Ting and head of the Regional Intelligence Division, said that both shootings were related.
This developed as the families of brothers Manuel and Nicolas have issued a joint statement appealing to the public to end the speculations that the rift between their fathers triggered the twin attacks.
Police already have the identity of the gunman in Manuel’s killing. But Buenafe refused to give further details on the identity of the suspect so as not to jeopardize their ongoing operation.
Buenafe said they had secured affidavits of at least three witnesses to the killing who identified the gunman.
The police failed to arrest the suspect in Carcar City Wednesday night after receiving a report about his presence there.
The gunman is still in Metro Cebu as of yesterday, Buenafe disclosed.
Buenafe described the gunman as about 42 to 44 years old, about 5’4” to 5’5” tall and having brown complexion.
Based on a witness’ account, the gunman wore an all-black get-up and carried a black sling bag that contained the gun he used to kill Manuel Ting, 72.
Buenafe said money and business matters are probably the motive behind the killing as he ruled out the sibling conflict angle.
The task force head said the gunman belongs to a group of professional gun-for-hires, stressing that the suspect has been involved in extortion activities.
Manuel, 72, was driving his car when waylaid by a lone gunman near corner F. Llamas Street and Katipunan Street in barangay Tisa. He sustained gunshots to his head, chest and other parts of his body.
The previous night, Nicolas, 70, was injured when he was ambushed in barangay Cabancalan, Mandaue City. He sustained at least four gunshot wounds to his chest.
In a joint statement, Nixon Dizon, eldest son of Nicolas, and Basil Ting, eldest son of Manuel, said that despite the feud between their fathers, it is impossible for them to end up “ganging up on each other.”
“Their personal feud is trivial to merit a violent end to it. No amount of justification or reasoning from our respective families, that our families are not involved in these attacks can satisfy the curious or the suspecting minds, but what we can assure ourselves and to each other is that our conscience is clear,” they said.
“Our families have been affected and in pain at the tragic attacks on our fathers and the stories that we have been hearing from the public and the media are not helping our grieving families. We have decided to issue this joint statement to stop the unfounded and false stories circulating that the personal feud between the two was behind the attacks,” they added.
Lawyer Michael Yu, legal counsel and a friend of both families, admitted that they have no idea about those responsible for both attacks.
He said they are taking precautionary measures for the security of the children such as banning of video and photo coverage of the children at the St. Peter’s Funeral Home and anywhere.
“On side of the late family Ting, the investigation is still ongoing. Unya we don’t want to put to risk ang mga bata. Kay wala man gud ta kahibalo kinsa’y perpetrator no. We are still facing a blank wall but we are leaving it to the police authorities. Our fate, trust and confidence sa atong police authorities. They are the experts in this field and hopefully they can resolve the crime,” Yu said.
Nixon doubts that his uncle and father are even aware they have enemies.
“For us, wala gyud mi kahibaw, ngano nahitabo ni. For example, Nicolas Ting was driving without a bodyguard and Manuel Ting was driving without a bodyguard. So ang hunahuna gyud nila is wala sila’y kontra. So wala gyud mi gahuna-huna na naa mi’y kontra. Karon lang, na-alarm mi,” he said.
Following the incident, the children said they have not received any death threat. However, for security purposes, they decided to request for police escorts.
“Naa na’y request gipadala sa respective police authorities. We are just hoping that they will act on this fast,” Yu said.
Nixon said his father already has his own police security at the hospital.
Nicolas is already out of danger but still needs to be observed at the intensive care unit at a hospital for another five days. Nobody has informed Nicolas yet of what happened to his older brother.
“Di namo pahibaw-on sa kay wala mi kahibawo sa iyang reaction. Mag-igsuon na, maguol gihapon na,” Nixon said.
Both families also dispelled speculations that business rivalry between Nicolas and Manuel may be behind the attacks.
Basil said that theirs are friendly competition because Nicolas is into pension houses while the late Manuel was into hotels, which means that both have different markets.
“At the same time, for how many years, wala na sila nagstorya, so wala sila communication about business. Independent mi, independent sila,” Nixon assured.
Both families are considering giving rewards to those who can give information for the arrest of the suspects. — /LPM (FREEMAN NEWS)