Cops closing in on Rosales siblings’ killers

MANILA, Philippines - Police are hot on the heels of the suspects in the killing of siblings Lauren and Petronio Rosales who were slain three months apart in Makati City this year.

Senior Superintendent Tomas Apolinario, director of the Southern Police District (SPD), said yesterday the Makati police was just waiting for the right time to arrest the killers of Lauren, 26, and her brother, Petronio, 34.

“Makati police investigators have leads on the case,” Apolinario said.

Apolinario withheld the identities of the suspects so as not to preempt police operations against them.

Motive personal

Apolinario said they are eyeing a personal motive in the murder of the Rosales siblings.

He said the victims might have known their killers.

He said the SPD has sought the assistance of the Philippine National Police anti-cybercrime division to look into the social media accounts of the victims, which could hold the key to solving the case since burglars had tried to steal Petronio’s laptop at his house.

Apolinario said they have provided security for the Rosales family.

Not drug-related

Makati police chief Senior Superintendent Rommil Mitra said the killing was not a case of mistaken identity nor was it related to illegal drugs.

Mitra said the siblings are not on the drug watchlist.

Lauren was in a passenger jeepney on her way to work in Makati City when she was shot dead by an unidentified man last July.

Petronio, who had returned home from the United Kingdom to follow up on his sister’s murder, was gunned down by men on a motorcycle in Barangay San Antonio Village while waiting for a ride home last month.

Petronio’s remains were cremated on Monday.

Mitra admitted that the case was challenging for probers.

“Their family, friends and co-workers said the victims had no known enemies,” he said.

“This is an unusual case because if you look at it, the siblings were killed three months apart,” Mitra added.