Caloocan ambush survivor names 6 suspects

MANILA, Philippines - A 16-year-old survivor of a Friday morning ambush in Caloocan City identified yesterday at least six men who allegedly attacked him and his companions.

Jimboy Mayola, who is recovering from gunshot wounds, told police that it was allegedly the group of Jonathan Avila, with five others known only through their aliases as Onse, Hero, David, Ilong and Erwin, who ambushed them.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, Caloocan City police station investigation chief, said that according to Mayola, before the ambush, Avila’s gang also shot at the victims’ group but no one was hurt.

“The boy quoted one of the suspects, a certain Erwin, warning the victims that he would wipe out all of them for being nuisance,” Soriano told The STAR.

On Friday, at around 3:30 a.m., Mayola and his group – Resty Domingo, 17; Randy Domingo, 23; Reymel Alonzo, 20; Joey Adarme, 21; and Eugene Adarme, 28 – were in a red Toyota Corolla (PRP-422) when they were ambushed along Bagumbong Taas street in Barangay 171 by gunmen riding in a taxi.

Alonzo was killed on the spot while the four others were wounded and were brought to different hospitals for treatment.

Soriano said John Clemen Adarme, 13, who they earlier thought was also shot and killed during the ambush, was later found dead with stab wounds along Saranay Road near the area where the six victims were waylaid.

He said John Clemen was the younger brother of the two wounded Adarmes and was abducted by armed men Thursday night.

The victims reported John Clemen as missing to the Bagumbong Taas police at around 11 p.m. Thursday and went on scouring the area for the boy when they were ambushed by men armed with .45 caliber pistols and M16 rifles.

Soriano said their investigation showed the incident was triggered by a conflict between two rival gangs in the area.

“This is a conflict between two rob gangs and they knew each other for they operate in one area,” Soriano said. He said witnesses also identified some of the suspects through the police rogues’ gallery.

Senior Superintendent Jude Santos directed his men to hunt down and arrest the gunmen and to trace where their high-powered firearms came from.