GETAWAY VEHICLE. Police intercept an SUV (in photo) at a checkpoint in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental, allegedly used as a getaway vehicle by suspects in the murder of a village chief in Dauin town on Wednesday (May 5, 2021). Four suspects were arrested and are now facing murder charges. (Photo courtesy of Dauin police station)
DUMAGUETE CITY – A dismissed Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel and three others who were arrested Wednesday at a checkpoint in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental are facing murder raps in relation to the daytime gun-slay of a village chief in Dauin, a town about 30 minutes south of this capital.
Capt. Louie Batoto, Dauin police chief, in an interview Thursday, said three of the suspects are now in their custody while the fourth, the suspected gunman, is in a hospital here recovering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on his leg.
The suspects are from Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur, although their names were withheld pending further police investigation, he said.
Batoto said the motive for the murder of village chief Stephen Bandoquillo Alam of Barangay Bagacay, Dauin remains unknown as the suspects are not cooperating in the police investigation, citing the absence of a lawyer.
Alam was shot dead inside the barangay hall on Wednesday morning, with the gunman hit by his own firearm after it went off while engaged in a scuffle with the barangay secretary, who was fortunately spared by the perpetrators.
Batoto said the suspects fled on board a blue sports utility vehicle (SUV) and were arrested in Vallehermoso, about four hours north of this capital, several hours after the crime was perpetrated.
The SUV was rented from a rent-a-car establishment here by one of the suspects, he said.
A witness has positively identified the suspects, Batoto said.
Police recovered spent shells of 9mm and a .45 caliber magazine at the crime scene, but no firearms were recovered from the suspects following their arrest. (PNA)
