2 informers slain in QC, Caloocan

MANILA, Philippines - Two police informers and two others were killed in separate attacks in Quezon City and Caloocan City hours apart.

A police informer, his son and a neighbor were killed in a drive-by shooting in Quezon City shortly after midnight yesterday.

Police identified the victims as Fernando Corpuz, 44; his son Fernan Luis, 20, a Metro Manila College criminology student; and Siplicio Yuma, 48, all residents of Barangay Holy Spirit.

Senior Police Officer 3 Mario Soriano said the attack happened at around 12:30 a.m. in front of a neighborhood store at the corner of Sto. Rosario and St. Paul streets near the victim’s residences.

Four men riding two motorcycles bearing no license plates drove by and repeatedly shot at them. Soriano said the gunmen, who quickly fled the scene, were armed with .45 caliber handguns.

The victims, who were having a conversation when the shooting took place, died on the spot.

Senior Police Officer 1 Joel Gagaza said the elder Corpuz is a police “asset” or informer, according to the victim’s widow. He told The STAR that this will be considered in the homicide investigation in establishing the motive for the attack.

About three hours earlier, another alleged informer, Gil Figueroa, 32, was shot dead along Talilong street in Caloocan City. Sources said Figueroa became a target after he caused the arrest of several members of a drug syndicate.

Figueroa’s alleged killer, taxi driver Anthony Pedrosa, 32, was himself shot dead by a policeman who happened to park his car near the area where the shooting happened.

Figueroa was walking home when Pedrosa, along with two unidentified accomplices, reportedly shot him in the chest and thigh. He was declared dead on arrival at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Police Officer 2 Rommel Bautista said.

Chief Inspector Michael Garcia, of the Regional Intelligence Division in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, was looking for a place to park his car along Talilong street when he heard gunfire. He was in the area to visit his family.

Garcia saw Pedrosa running, holding a gun. He said he introduced himself as a policeman and told Pedrosa to drop the gun, but the gunman and his companions shot at him. He fired back, hitting Pedrosa in the back and right thigh.

The officer surrendered himself and his .9mm Glock pistol to police authorities.  – With Pete Laude