Two police teams hunting down Makati bar gunman

Two teams of crack police operatives were dispatched yesterday to undisclosed areas of Metro Manila to get the prime suspect in the killing of a an ABS-CBN director and the wounding of six others in Makati City the other day.

Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Garcia, director of the Southern Police District (SPD) admitted they are still verifying the true identity of the shooter, believed to be a scion of a prominent family .

"We are not yet sure of the suspect’s real identity, but we are closing in on him," he told The Star.

Garcia said elements of the District Intelligence and Investigation Division (DIID) of the SPD and the Station Investigation Division (SID) of the Makati City police are working on a 24-hour basis to solve the killing of Luis "Luigi" Santiago, 26, director of the horror and supernatural encounter series Nginiig.

Santiago sustained a lone gunshot wound in the chest and died on his way to the Makati City Medical Center.

Six others were wounded in the shooting incident.

Initial reports identified the gunman as Oliver Angeles, a resident of Alabang in Muntinlupa and a regular customer of the upscale Venezia Club located at Glorietta 2, where the incident took place.

However, waiters and other workers at the bar told The Star that they knew the suspect as one Oliver Perez.

Right after his shooting spree, the suspect escaped on board a Ford Explorer with license plate XTW 280.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) later said that based on the plate, the vehicle was actually a Toyota Hi-Lux registered in the name of one Charito Angeles, who is currently in the US.

Garcia said they traced the vehicle to a garage in Hillsborough Subdivision in Alabang. However, "Oliver" was not around.

The SPD director said Angeles left her vehicle under the care of her sister Alicia, who kept mum when asked who was using the vehicle at the time Santiago was shot.

"We talked to Alicia who told us to talk to her lawyer," Garcia said.

He refused to say where the two teams are tracking the suspect so as not to jeopardize ongoing operations.

Venezia waiters and employees claimed that the suspect was in the company of Santiago and several friends when they arrived at the bar last Wednesday night.

"Medyo kalbo yung Oliver at kilala namin dahil regular customer namin siya. Showbiz din ang dating niyan," one waiter said.

The trouble started when one of the female customers, believed to be a relative of the bar’s security chief, got into an altercation with four other women in the bar.

The bar’s security official intervened and the female patron walked out of the establishment.

However, she called for help and a group of men arrived later. A commotion ensued, witnesses told police.

"Mukhang may nasapak sa nangyaring kumprontasyon pero umalis rin ang grupo ng babae," another waiter said.

It was at this juncture when the suspect rushed out of the bar and met someone at the parking lot who handed him a handgun.

The suspect fired a warning shot in the air and pandemonium broke loose.

The suspect then fired more shots, hitting Mary Ann Santano, 24; Arnel Henteron, 32, a disc jockey; Charlton Yu, 30; Geraldo Nicolas Lauron, 30; Althea Aversu, 21, and Senior Inspector Merquiodi Bodanio, the deputy commander of Police Community Precinct 6 (PCP6) of the Makati City police.

Bodanio led several policemen in responding to the scene after receiving reports of a brawl.

Meanwhile, Louie Ysmael, the bar owner, clarified that the shooting incident happened outside their premises and in fact several meters away from the establishment.

He admitted there was a "catfight" between some women inside his bar before the shooting rampage, but clarified that his security personnel were able to put an end to the same and ushered out those making trouble.

Ysmael assured Venezia patrons that security and safety while inside his establishment was something which they take very seriously. — With Michael Punongbayan