Alleged Port Area gunman ‘humiliated by wife’

MANILA, Philippines - A man accused of shooting three men in Port Area, Manila on All Saints’ Day had done so because his wife “humiliated” him in front of his drinking buddies, an investigator said yesterday.

Jamil Datu Malo and his family have gone into hiding, case investigator Police Officer 3 Jeff Tajonera said.

“We went to his house on 12th street but they were no longer there. His relatives, even his sibling who is a councilor of Barangay 650, have left,” Tajonera said.

He said Malo’s neighbor, Mel Dati, 42, remains confined at the Ospital ng Maynila. Dati’s companions – Russel Galo, 26; and Peter Masamloc, 42 – were declared dead on arrival.

Tajonera reported that at around 3 a.m. on Nov. 1, Dati brought Masamloc and Galo in front of his shanty for a drink. Malo and his friends were also drinking nearby.

Suddenly, Malo’s wife, Genalyn, stormed out of the house and slapped him “because he was still drinking at around 3 a.m.,” Tajonera said.

A humiliated Malo looked at his drinking buddies, and then, at his neighbors. The victims were laughing when Malo laid eyes on them, “but they were not laughing at him,” according to the policeman.

Malo rushed to his house, grabbed a .38 caliber revolver, and shot the victims, he said. “Dati is alive because he ran out of bullets,” Tajonera said.

All the revolver’s six bullets were spent on the victims’ bodies. After the last shot, Malo was heard saying: “Nalagasan na din lahi niyo (I killed off some of your tribe).”

‘Tribal war’

According to Tajonera, Malo – a Maranao – thought the victims were Maguindanaoans because Dati is from South Cotabato. The humiliation he felt could have been exacerbated by the ongoing “tribal war” on 12th streetm, the police officer said.

“What he did not know is that the victims were from the Visayas. They did not even know each other well. Dati’s cousin is the friend of Masamloc and Galo,” he said.

Malo is reportedly an ally of Barangay 650 candidate for chairman Sultan Dimakuta, who lost to Mike Salik Arongo, who was shot on the eve of the barangay polls.