2 killed, 2 injured in 3 Dumaguete shootings

CEBU, Philippines - Two men were gunned down by unidentified gunmen, while a couple was wounded in a series of shooting incidents in this city during the past two days, the motives of which according to the police can be traced to activities involving illegal drugs.

Killed in two shootings in two days were Rodolfo Olis Dicen, 40, of Barangay Poblacion I, and Earl Baylon Logronio, 34, of Lower Batinguel. Each sustained three gunshot wounds in the body, while a couple were wounded to survive a shooting attack at Barangay Bajumpandan.

The first shooting was around 5 a.m. Thursday, when Logronio was shot by an unidentified man on a motorcycle at a resto-bar along Flores Avenue, this city. The victim had a drinking spree with at least six others when the incident happened. He was rushed to the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival

The resto-bar’s security guard, Roy Palopalo, told the police the gunman was wearing a black jacket and a bonnet and fled the scene on a black Honda XRM motorcycle without a plate number. Police recovered from the crime scene two empty shells of caliber .45 pistol, one deformed slug of the same caliber.

Logronio was a parolee after a jail term in the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa. He was in the police’s list of target drug personalities, and known to inmates arrested for selling and possession of illegal drugs.

Earlier at around 1:15 am Wednesday, two men shot Dicen at Fatima Village in Barangay Piapi, this city. The police said tanods found the blooded victim lying by the roadside. He was rushed to the Silliman University Medical Center but did not make it alive.

Police recovered three spent shells of caliber .45 and a disposable lighter. Investigations said Dicen had escaped two attempts to kill him. Thirty minutes before he was gunned down, two unidentified men were seen near his house. Their descriptions were similar to the suspects who fired at him in Piapi before. Dicen was also arrested in the past for illegal drugs.

Also last Thursday, Rowel Katada, 40, and his wife Lovely Mae, 33, both of Barangay Cantil-e, this city, were fire upon along the diversion road in Bajumpandan by a motorcycle riding attacker. Police said the Katada couple were on their jeep on their way home from school.

Superintendent James Goforth, Dumaguete Police chief, said the Katadas survived the shooting but were brought to the hospital due to injuries. No other details were made available by the police yet. (FREEMAN)