Jeepney driver kills colleague in front of passengers

Manila, Philippines - A 26-year-old jeepney driver was arrested yesterday, 17 hours after shooting a colleague in front of his passengers at the corner of Taft Avenue and Ayala Boulevard in Manila Thursday afternoon.

Police said Allan Bernales shot Jerick Saraosos with an improvised shotgun at around 2 p.m., then boarded a passing bus. Saraosos was declared dead on arrival at the Philippine General Hospital.

However, his sister, Emma, tipped off the police that Bernales passed by her house in Cainta, Rizal. She said he told her he shot someone and is planning to hide with their relatives in Teresa, Rizal. Bernales was arrested by a team from the Manila Police District at a nipa hut in the middle of a rice field in Barangay Dalig.

At his detention cell, Bernales claimed the victim bullied him each time they met at a jeepney terminal in Divisoria while picking up passengers. He said he could no longer tolerate the victim’s ill manners and decided to kill him with an improvised shotgun.

He said he chased the victim’s passenger jeepney along Taft Avenue and shot at him. Bernales said he threw away the shotgun when he went to Rizal province.

Murder charges are being prepared against the suspect, according to Inspector Armando Macaraeg.