Man shoots 3 traffic enforcers in Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines - A man riding a motorcycle shot three traffic enforcers manning their post along E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard in Quezon City yesterday.

The three traffic enforcers, along with two others who were hit by stray bullets, were brought to Delos Santos Medical Center for treatment.

Superintendent Edgardo Pamittan, commander of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 11, said the incident happened at around 4:30 p.m. near the corner of Araneta Avenue.

Pamittan said investigators have yet to establish the motive behind the attack as well as the identity of the lone gunman, who covered his face and fled on a motorcycle that did not have license plates.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Elenzano, deputy head of the QCPD-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, identified the three traffic enforcers as Darwin Pollo, 30; Marlon Gulla, 31; and Bernardo Callosa. They are traffic enforcers under the city government’s Department of Public Order and Safety, commonly called the “yellow boys.”

Elenzano said Joseph Solares, 33, an employee of Delos Santos Medical Center, and Roman Sy, who at the time of the attack was being accosted by the traffic enforcers over a violation, were also hurt.

Pamittan said it appeared that the gunman staked out the area where the three traffic enforcers were posted that day.

Pamittan said witnesses claimed the gunman had been drinking liquor at a nearby store, coming back and forth, moments before the attack. At that time, some of the traffic enforcers were eating at another store on the other side of the road.

Pamittan said that when the three traffic enforcers had finished eating and gathered on the sidewalk, the gunman boarded his motorcycle, took the nearby U-turn slot to get to the other side of the road, and passed by the traffic enforcers while firing his handgun, before finally fleeing the scene.

Pamittan said that based on witnesses’ accounts, the suspect used what appeared to be an “automatic pistol.”