Probers eye 3 in Grab driver’s slay

MANILA, Philippines — Investigators from the Pasay City police are searching for three persons of interest in the killing of Grab driver Gerardo Maquidato Jr. 

“We are expecting a breakthrough,” Superintendent Gene Licud, city deputy police chief for operation, said after Grab submitted on Monday electronic data generated before Maquidato went off-line.

Among the important pieces of data are the three cancelled transactions on Maquidato’s mobile phone after his last passengers got out of his vehicle, sources said.

The persons of interest are those involved in the cancelled transactions.

Licud said Maquidato’s last passengers were three aircon technicians who booked him for a ride from San Juan to Pasay.

Surveillance video showed the technicians getting out of his silver Toyota Innova upon reaching their destination and going to a nearby eatery, he said.

The technicians told police they had nothing to do with Maquidato’s death.

A witness saw someone shoving Maquidato out of his Innova, with plate number YV 7109, along Bonanza street in Pasay City before driving away with his vehicle on Thursday night. He had been shot in the back of the head.

The Innova remains missing. The Highway Patrol Group has raised a nationwide alarm for the stolen vehicle.

Grab earlier offered a P100,000 reward to any person with information leading to the resolution of the case.