Girl, mother caught in gang war crossfire

A two-year-old girl and her 21-year-old mother became the latest victims of street violence after they were hit by stray bullets during a gang war in Tondo, Manila past midnight yesterday.

Police said Christine Morquinos and her mother Maricel sustained gunshot wounds in the buttocks and arm, respectively. They were later sent home after receiving treatment at the Mary Johnston Hospital.

Investigations showed the victims were outside their residence on C.P. Garcia street, Tondo when a still unidentified gunman fired successive shots at a group of youths.

The mother told police blood was oozing from her daughter’s buttocks while she herself felt her arm turning numb.

She immediately called for assistance.

Last week, a housewife was hurt when a stray bullet grazed her head at the height of clashes between warring youth gangs.

The nightly clashes between gangs have raised concern among residents that more innocent victims would be caught in the crossfire.

As this developed, an alleged "hitman" of a street fraternity gang allegedly responsible for the slaying of two members of a rival group has been arrested in Tondo, Manila.

The arrest of Jonathan Estacio, alias "Sky," 21, of Domingo Santiago street, Sampaloc, Manila, was an offshoot of an intensified police campaign against street fraternity gangs.

Estacio’s arrest was covered by a warrant issued by Judge Amalia Andrade of Regional Trail Court Branch 5.

Tondo police station chief Superintendent Frumento Villareal said Estacio, the alleged leader of Temple Street Trece, is wanted for the shooting of 17-year-old Michael Duque in January 2002 and Joydan Villegas, 23, in April 2002.

Estacio managed to elude police through his informants in the underworld.

SPO2 Virgo Villareal and PO1 Ryan Malacad, who painstakingly monitored the whereabouts of Estacio, finally caught up with him inside a billiard hall on Recto Avenue. Estacio gave up peacefully.

Villareal said the Temple Street Trece is fighting for supremacy with another street gang, the True Brown Style. The two gangs frequently figure in nightly clashes, with innocent civilians often caught in crossfire.