Cops looking for witnesses: CCTV footage of slay try on customs official ‘hazy’

CEBU, Philippines - Good news and bad news on the ambush of a customs collector in Talisay City past 7 p.m. Wednesday night.

Superintendent Germano Mallari, Talisay City Police chief, yesterday said they secured a footage of the two gunmen firing at the vehicle of Gerardo Campo, 55, married, of Sitio Sto. Niño, Nonoc, Tabunok, Talisay.

The video, however, is of poor quality so the police could not quite see the faces of the two men.

The footage was captured by a closed circuit television camera of an establishment near where the attack happened.

Because of this, Mallari suggested that establishments should settle on high-quality CCTVs instead of buying the cheap ones.

He said the footage was blurry and they could not even see the plate number of the motorcycle the two men used.

Campo was riding his Toyota Hilux driven by his driver Proto Bulias, 38, of Loon, Bohol on their way home when a motorcycle with two men riding drove alongside them and fired at Bulias.

Bulias, who was hit in the back, managed to continue driving until they reached Campo’s house, prompting the two men to flee.

Campo and his office staff, Pablito Geraldez, 30, of Cantao-an, City of Naga were unscathed while Bulias is now recuperating in a Cebu City hospital.

Mallari had said they believe Campo was the real target and one of the angles they were pursuing was that the attack was related to the customs official’s job.

Bulias’ main task as family driver is to bring Campo’s children to school, but he drove for him that day because the children have no classes yet because of the semestral break.

Mallari said the gunmen were not professional gun-for-hire due to the way they executed the attack.

He and his men are now looking for witnesses to help them identify the two men. —  Gabriel C. Bonjoc/RHM (FREEMAN)