Witnesses finger man in custody

CEBU, Philippines - A suspected gun-for-hire, who is now under the custody of the police for illegal gun possession, has been tagged by two witnesses as the gunman, who shot a couple in Lapu-Lapu City late Wednesday night, hours before his arrest.

Arnel ‘Budlat’ Gomez, who was arrested by the Cebu City Police at dawn last Thursday after trying to elude a check point, is the alleged killer of Petronilo Wagas and his common law wife Esie Villegas.

Gomez was caught in the downtown area of Cebu City hours after the ambush in Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

Insp. Zenaido Pastrofide, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office homicide chief, told reporters that two witnesses have positively identified Gomez as one of the two perpetrators in the ambush.

Wagas, 37, and Villegas, 40, were both onboard their multicab at around 11:30 p.m. when a motorcycle, with two men wearing full-face helmets, drove alongside their vehicle and shot them.

Gomez was arrested by the CCPO SWAT at Balagtas Street, Barangay Pahina Central, Cebu City at 3:30 a.m. Thursday dawn roughly four hours after the victims were killed.

Pastrofide said they learned of Gomez’s arrest through the media prompting them to bring their witnesses to CCPO where the suspect is currently detained for illegal possession of firearms and drugs.

Evidence

Security guard Edgar Perez of a nearby subdivision said the perpetrators were on board a black Honda TMX motorcycle which matched the vehicle Gomez was using when he was caught.

Pastrofide said the witness, however, is not sure if Gomez was the gunman or the driver.

Gomez has also been tagged in the death of a police asset and a member of the Barangay Intelligence Network last February. 

SWAT members recovered from Gomez a caliber .22 revolver and a Caliber .45 pistol with suppressor including a pack of shabu weighing 3.7 grams and several drug paraphernalia.

Pastrofide said that they will do ballistics tests of the guns of Gomez particularly the caliber .45 to determine if the four empty shells recovered from the scene of the ambush came from the Gomez gun. 

“Ato pa ipaubos sa cross matching ang armas sa suspect ug kadtong mga ebidesnya nga among nakuha sa crime scene,” (We will do a cross-matching of the gun and the evidence recovered from the crime scene) he said.

The CCPO SWAT has filed a case of illegal possession of firearms and drugs yesterday against Gomez, while Pastrofide plans to file another case for murder.

Denial

Gomez, however, denied the allegations, saying that he could not have done the act after posting bail six days ago for another case of illegal possession of firearms. 

“Mas maayo pang ila kong patyon kaysa ila kong butang-butangan anang wala koy sala,” (It would be better for them to kill men than to accuse me of a crime I did not do) he said.

The police also believe that Gomez is a member of an organized criminal group operating in the Metro Cebu area. — /NLQ (FREEMAN)