Army man killed in QC

A mid-level military officer was shot dead in an ambush while inside his car yesterday morning in Project 4, Quezon City, according to police.

Army Col. Raul Heredia, 49, an instructor at the National Defense College, was shot dead while at the wheel of his car after visiting his parents at 16-A V. Luciano street, Barangay Masagana.

The 49-year-old officer was on board his parked Toyota Corolla Altis (XKS-517) and just came from the ancestral home when two men appeared at 6:45 a.m. One shot him at close range with a .9 mm pistol.

After the incident, the suspects fled on board a motorcycle that was parked nearby. Heredia was taken to the Quezon Memorial Medical Center, but was declared dead on arrival.

Heredia died from a gunshot wound in the body. The cadaver was taken to the PNP Crime Laboratory for autopsy.

The motive of the attack is still unknown, but police said the Army man may have been targeted by the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

Communist guerrillas have assassinated more than 100 soldiers and police in Metro Manila during a brief urban insurrection campaign in the late 1980s.

Central Police District (CPD) director Chief Superintendent Napoleon Castro told The Star that Heredia may also have been mistaken for one of his brothers, all of them police officers.

Castro pointed out that Heredia’s family also owns a parcel of land in Rizal, a known hot spot of insurgency.

Heredia was a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and belonged to Class 1975.

Meanwhile, elements of the CPD caught a 22-year-old man who held up bus passengers yesterday morning in Quezon City.

Marcial Digas, of Block 9 Lot 8 Letre Road, Malabon City is now detained at CPD-Station 2 in Baler.

PO1 Vincent Calatay said that the suspect was arrested 15 minutes after he and his cohorts held up passengers on an air-conditioned RRCG bus (TWR-314) bound for Monumento at the Kamuning flyover at around 7 a.m. The four suspects boarded the bus in Mandaluyong.

After divesting cash and valuables from passengers, the four men alighted on EDSA-North Avenue. Two of them crossed EDSA while the two others, including Digas, boarded another bus.

Urged by the victims, the driver of the RRCG bus tailed the bus carrying Digas and his cohort. When the suspects alighted at the corner of Abra and Corregidor streets in Project 7, the victims alerted patrol cops, who gave chase.

One suspect managed to flee while Digas, who attempted to board a tricycle, was caught.

Cash amounting to P8,000 was carted away by the other suspects. Several cell phones were recovered from Digas.