2 minors injured in separate road rage incidents in QC

MANILA, Philippines - Two separate cases of alleged shooting incidents caused by traffic disagreements left two minors injured in Quezon City in less than one week.

The first case – which gained prominence after an account of the incident went viral on social media site Facebook – involved a 9 year-old girl, who sustained kidney and liver damage after the shooting in Barangay Bungad early Dec. 6.

Three days later, a 17-year old girl in Sangandaan was accidentally shot when the driver of the tricycle she was riding figured in an argument with a pedestrian, who was later identified as a suspect behind the shooting of a cop last October.

In a phone interview with The STAR, the father of the 9 year-old victim said they decided to share the incident on Facebook hoping that someone would be able to recognize the vehicle of the alleged gunman.

Screenshots of the white SUV, taken from the recording of the barangay’s closed-circuit television cameras, accompanied the post, which has been shared over 1400 times as of Wednesday afternoon.

The victim’s father said his daughter is now in stable condition and is already recovering from her injuries. He called on police officials to act on the incident and arrest the suspect.

In his account, which was shared on Facebook by a friend, the father said he was with his family travelling along M.H. Del Pilar Street around 4 a.m. when he came across the SUV “with its very bright headlight directly blinding my sight.”

“So when the driver of the said SUV and I met side by side, I brought my window down and he did so too... I asked him politely and said... ‘Brod, pwede mo namang ibaba’ (meaning dim his headlight),” read the post.

It said the other driver replied arrogantly, saying “Eh, ano ngayon?!”

The father narrated that when they starting to move forward, they heard three gunshots, prompting his wife to urge him to immediately leave the area.

“A few seconds later, my youngest daughter shouted ‘Aray!’ then our eldest daughter told us there was blood from her sister. My wife then hugged our youngest daughter and told me to drive to the hospital emergency room,” read the post.

The father said his daughter’s kidney and liver were both damaged from the shot and received blood transfusion during the operation.

He said they reported the incident to Quezon City Police District Station 2, which has started its investigation on the incident.

He called on the suspect to turn himself in to authorities and pay for what he has done.

“Sana makonsensiya ka,” said the father.

Meanwhile, police reports show that the second incident happened 7 a.m. Monday in front of a supermarket in Sangandaan.

Investigator PO3 Jovy Pobre of the Talipapa Police Station said the 17-year old victim – who remains in critical condition – was on board a tricycle when the incident happened.

Pobre said the suspect, identified as Jayson Bitago, was crossing the street when a tricycle driven by Alvin Gamboa suddenly drove past him. Police said a heated altercation ensued between the suspect and Gamboa.

During which, the suspect pulled out a .45 caliber pistol and shot it twice at the direction of the tricycle, said the police officer.

Gamboa managed to evade the shots and ran away from his tricycle. However, Gamboa’s passenger got shot in the back. She was rushed to a nearby hospital.

The suspect was arrested as a police officer, SPO1 Roy Villareal, was passing by the area aboard his motorcycle at the time of the incident.

Villareal ran after the suspect who he arrested and seized from his possession the firearm, said Pobre.

Chief Inspector Edilberto Nicanor, deputy chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said Bitago has been positively identified by a witness as the same person who shot and hurt SPO3 Renato Corado on the night of Oct. 20.

Corado was with his wife while he was driving his Toyota Corolla when he drove by the suspect who was driving a motorcycle that night. It was learned that Bitago got angry after his motorcycle got blocked by Corado’s car which was going at an opposite direction.

A neighbor of Bitago saw that he turned around and fired a shot that hit Corado in the back when the latter's car drove past him.

An earlier report identified the shooter of Corado as a certain Heson Bagalacsa, and not Bitago.