Ortigas road rage: Delivery man shot dead

MANILA, Philippines - A driver was shot dead yesterday in Pasig City in what was believed to be a road rage incident.

Police said Richard Tuazon was shot in the head and died while being rushed to hospital.

The gunman fled in his black Toyota Innova with license plates APA 9824. Pasig City police chief Senior Supt. Jose Hidalgo Jr. said he had ordered a pursuit.

“We have no clear motive as yet. My men are now in the field conducting follow-up operations to identify and arrest the suspect,” Hidalgo said.

Tuazon, a courier of the World Class Laminated Inc., left their office in Barangay Maybunga to deliver some items in Quezon City.

While driving his Mitsubishi L-300 van along Rosario Bridge in Barangay Rosario, Tuazon almost collided with the gunman’s car.

Witnesses said the driver of the Toyota then pulled aside Tuazon before opening fire through the vehicle’s window.

The gunman sped away while bystanders rushed Tuazon to the hospital.

Hidalgo said investigators are coordinating with establishments in the area to determine if the incident was caught on their closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTV).

“We are searching the CCTV cameras that might have recorded the shooting incident for us to get a clear picture of the shooting,” he said.

Worsening traffic

With the road rage incident occurring during the holiday rush, authorities admitted worsening traffic is becoming a major cause of concern for motorists as well as for government security forces.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said the military is willing to assist the police in dealing with this concern.

“For now we don’t have any troops deployed to help in easing traffic congestion because we know that our police counterparts can still handle the situation,” Padilla said.

Padilla said the military is ready and willing to deploy the needed troops for traffic duties to assist their counterparts in the police Highway Patrol Group (HPG).

He added troops from the AFP’s Joint Task Force National Capital Region (JTFNCR) are on standby and ready to render service if the need arises.

In 2006, the AFP deployed a battalion of troops in Metro Manila to assist the PNP in securing the entire metropolis from mounting threats of terrorism. – Jaime Laude