Two men shot dead by assailants

CEBU, Philippines - Two men were shot dead by unidentified assailants in under an hour in separate shooting incidents in the town of Consolacion and in Danao City Wednesday evening.

In Consolacion, a man who had just recently been released from jail for robbery was shot dead in Barangay Pulpogan, past 6 p.m.

Alwin Siacor, 28, of Sitio Sto. Niño 1, Barangay Upper Casili, succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds in different parts of his body which caused his immediate death.

Nobody saw the assailants who immediately fled after the incident.

Police, however, are now pursuing Siacor’s alleged involvement in robbery and illegal drugs as two small packets of shabu were recovered from the victim.

Consolacion police chief Chief Insp. Marlon Gumabao said he has yet to check the status of the victim’s robbery case if it was dismissed or not.

Prior to the incident, Siacor left his house and reportedly asked Cesario Tabotabo, 36, a motorcycle-for-hire driver, to take him to Barangay Pulpogan.

Upon arrival at the scene, Siacor told Tabotabo to wait for a while. To kill the boredom, Tabotabo went to a nearby sari-sari store to buy cigarettes and it was at this point when he heard successive gunshots.

Police recovered 14 empty shells which, Gumabao believes, came from two types of guns.

Gumabao said Siacor was not in their list of drug personalities but based on information they got, Siacor was allegedly a drug user.

In Danao City, a man who was just relieving himself in front of his house was shot dead by an unidentified assailant in Barangay Tuburan Sur.

Tanly Laurente, 33, was shot in the left wrist with the bullet exiting to lodge in his left thigh.

He was rushed to the Danao Provincial Hospital but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

Police are still investigating the incident to identify the assailant. Danao City police chief Supt. Resty Santos said that Laurente did not have any criminal record in their station but based on information they gathered, the victim was an alleged drug runner.

“Mura og wala ni makabayad sa drugs unya wala ni record kay bag-o pa gasugod,” Santos said in a phone interview.

Santos suspected that assailant used a .38 cal. revolver based on the trajectory of the wound.

Police are now investigating both incidents. —/BRP (FREEMAN)