CEBU, Philippines – Superintendent Jovito Atanacio, newly installed officer-in-charge Dumaguete City Police chief, had his “baptism of fire” via a shooting incident at Lukewright Street, this city, last August 15 or 18 days after he assumed his post.
Atanacio said the victim Lou Ann Ybanez sustained a gunshot wound in the face but survived to positively identify her assailant, Shaun Ronald Sotto Chiong, also known as “Tamoy,” a 36-year-old resident of C. Padilla Street in Cebu City.
The case was however deemed solved, under the parameters of the police, due to positive identification of the alleged gunman, his arrest, and the filing of the charges before the city prosecutor’s office yesterday.
In the inquest proceedings, Chiong waived his right against detention but requested for the conduct of a preliminary investigation within which to submit counter affidavits including that of his witnesses. After this, the prosecutor will determine the case within 15 days before the court.
Chiong claimed he was pinpointed by the victim as the alleged gunman to get back at him because of an incident where he collected from her payments of an unremitted amount to a certain “Ninong” who was based in Cebu.
He further claimed “Ninong” only asked him to collect from Ybañez any amount to settle the “debt,” even to the extent of getting valuable items from her house such as flat screen TV, a dog and a motorcycle. Unconfirmed reports said the victim had a payable of P300,000 to “Ninong.”
In the course of a follow-up investigation conducted by the city intelligence division and personally supervised by Atanacio, the suspect was arrested at a bingo house in Barangay Bagacay, this city.
Chiong was then brought by the police to his rented room at Pamela’s Pensionne House at Barangay Looc where assorted illegal drugs paraphernalia, such as improvised tooters, burners, tin foils and lighters were eventually found by the authorities.
Besides frustrated murder, a separate charge for violation of the illegal drugs law was filed against Chiong, who was jobless but renting a room at P600 per day.
Atanacio said despite the positive identification of Chiong, as the suspected gunman, the police will continue looking for the two others who were on the same motorcycle when the shooting took place. The two, whose names were already with the police, will also be charged with frustrated murder.