Richard Singco Jungoy, allegedly one of the killers of Annalou Llaguno and reportedly a member of the drug gang of slain drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, lay lifeless along C. Padilla Street in Barangay Duljo Fatima, Cebu City, after he was repeatedly shot by two men riding in tandem on a motorcyle at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. (PHOTO COURTESY BY HOMICIDE POLICE)
Dead men tell no tales.
The two men who allegedly gunned down the estranged wife of suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa last Sept. 30 were killed by still unknown assailants within a span of 18 hours from Monday night.
With the death of Michael Lendio and Richard Jungoy, who were identified by a witness as the same persons who shot dead Annalou Llaguno in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City, police lost the chance to find who could have masterminded her murder.
Senior Supt. Joel Doria, director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said investigators had already identified Lendio and Jungoy as Llaguno’s alleged assailants and were close to arresting them.
“We were hot on the trail of these two suspects pero naunahan lang tayo. Sayang. Gusto sana namin silang makuhang buhay para marami kaming makukuhang impormasyon mula sa kanila,” he said in an interview.
(We were hot on the trail of these two suspects but they got killed before we could arrest them. Too bad. We would have wanted to get them alive so that we could secure many information from them.)
Doria believed the cohorts of Lendio and Jungoy have them killed so they would not be able to squeal on their companions.
“The group knew the police were looking for them (Lendio, Jungoy, and another suspect). We have their names and it was just a matter of time before the police could arrest them. And so to silence them, their companions wanted them dead,” he said.
Lendio was positively identified by Llaguno’s boyfriend, John Joseph Romarate, as the man who finished off the female victim. Romarate was with Llaguno when she was repeatedly shot but was spared by her killers.
The gunman was not wearing any face mask nor a helmet when he shot Llaguno, Doria said.
Jungoy, on the other hand, wore a helmet but his name cropped up in the police investigation since he was the close aide of Lendio. The driver of the get-away motorcycle remains at large.
Lendio was celebrating his 41st birthday at a barbecue store along J.M. Basa Street in Barangay San Nicolas, Cebu City at around 9 p.m. on Monday, when two men on board a motorcycle approached him.
The backrider then pulled out a gun and shot Lendio several times, killing him on the spot.
Lendio suffered three gunshot wounds on his head and chest.
Recovered at the crime scene were six empty shells of a 9mm caliber gun, an empty shell of a .45 caliber pistol, and a deformed slug.
Looking for Dennis and Alex
Doria said the police were also looking for Lendio’s two drinking mates, a certain Dennis and a certain Alex, who disappeared after the shooting incident.
“We want to know if they (Dennis and Alex) conspired with the assailants. For now, we’re looking at many angles of the case,” he said.
About 18 hours later, at past 3 p.m. on Tuesday, two unidentified assailants shot dead Jungoy in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City.
Jungoy, a resident of Barangay Guadalupe, was buying cigarettes from a convenient store when two men on board a motorcycle approached him.
The backrider then pulled out a gun and shot Jungoy, who sustained at least six gunshot wounds on the different parts of his body.
Jaguar connection
Police investigators were still verifying the correct family name of Jungoy, an alleged member of the group of slain drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz.
Jungoy had two existing arrest warrants for murder and frustrated murder issued by Judges Wilfredo Navarro and Estela Alma Singco of the Regional Trial Court Branch (RTC) Branches 19 and 12 in Cebu City, respectively.
In the arrest warrants, Doria said, the victim has two family names: Jungoy and Nungoy.
Although he was a resident of Barangay Guadalupe, Jungoy was reportedly seen most of the time in Barangay Duljo-Fatima where Jaguar’s compound is located.
“It’s possible that he (Jungoy) is a member of Jaguar’s group. Based on the accounts of people we talked to, he always stayed at Jaguar’s compound,” said PO3 Cristobal Geronimo of the Cebu City Police Office’s homicide division in a separate interview.
“We’re doing our best to identify and arrest the persons who killed them (Jungoy and Lendio),” he added.
Doria said they wanted to get the mastermind behind the slay of Llaguno as well as those who ordered the murder of Lendio and Jungoy.
“What is important is we would be able to identify the mastermind,” he said.
Chief Insp. Ryan Devaras, head of the Investigation and Detection Management Branch (IDMB) of the Cebu City Police Office, earlier said the persons who killed Llaguno were identified with the group of Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz.
He said there was a possibility that Llaguno was killed for giving information to authorities regarding the illegal drugs operations in the region.
Last Oct. 2, Chief Supt. Augusto Marquez, Philippine National Police (PNP) director for Investigation and Detective Management, also revealed during the Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings that Llaguno was killed because she was suspected to be the one who tipped the police on the whereabouts of Jaguar, which led to his death in Las Piñas City last June.
“Based on the investigation, his (Jaguar) girlfriend was killed in Cebu because she was the one who informed the police where Jaguar was. It just goes to show that members of drug syndicates are killing each other,” he said in trying to persuade the Senate that drug suspects killed by unknown assailants were actually assassinated by their cohorts.
Kerwin connection
Doria, on the other hand, noted that it seemed suspicious why Lendio and Jungoy were gunned down hours after Kerwin was arrested by the police in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
“This (Kerwin’s arrest) could be another lead. But let’s see how the investigation goes. We are not making conclusions here. We have to consider all possible angles,” he explained.
Doria stressed that the death of Llaguno, Lendio and Jungoy proved that drug group members are now killing each other amid the government’s relentless campaign against illegal drugs.
He said there is a possibility that a drug courier was killed for failing to remit drug proceeds or for informing the police about their illegal drugs operations.
“To be candid, we don’t want to see drug suspects getting killed. We want them to live as much as possible because they can help us in our investigation,” Doria said.
Llaguno was married to Kerwin whom she met inside the city jail in Cebu City in April 2008.
The couple, however, separated years later, during which period Llaguno allegedly went into a relationship with Jaguar, who was said to be the biggest drug lord in Central Visayas.
Diaz was killed in an alleged shootout with police operatives in Las Piñas City last June 17.
Last Sept. 30, Llaguno was riding a scooter driven by her boyfriend when she was shot in Barangay Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City.
Llaguno was the niece of another slain alleged drug lord, Crisostomo “Tata Negro” Llaguno.
Tata Negro, who ran for Cebu City councilor in 2010, was gunned down by unknown assailants during a campaign sortie in Barangay Lorega San Miguel, Cebu City in May 2010.
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