Security guard behind shooting of two hardware employees surrenders

Benvenido Macaraeg, 38, surrenders to Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella on Monday morning. (CDN PHOTO/MOREXETTE ERRAM)

The security guard who shot two hardware employees, killing one of them, along Cebu International Port on December 22 surrendered to Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella on Monday noon.

Benvenido Macaraeg, 38, was working in a private shipping yard which is just a few meters away from where the victims, Raul Indenerio Simbajon, 49, and Gerson Gaslador Tumulak, go to work.

Simbajon died on the spot while Tumulak was rushed to the Cebu City Medical Center.

Labella told reporters that it was Macaraeg’s younger brother, who is his personal driver, who called him on Sunday evening to inform him of Benvenido’s plan to surrender.

“He said he wanted to surrender not only to let everyone know that he was not planning on hiding but also to seek help because, according to him, the victims he shot were also people of “characters”. He will be turned over to the right agency, the Philippine National Police (PNP),” said Labella.

Initial reports from the homicide section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) stated that the victims were attending their company-organized Christmas party, and Macaraeg was with his colleagues and friends drinking alcoholic beverages nearby.

Macaraeg said the victims suddenly approached him and his colleagues, and tried to provoke a confrontation between them. That was when he shot Simbajon and Tumulak “for self-defense”.

Supt. Ryan Guevarra of the CCPO’s homicide section escorted Macaraeg to Camp Sotero Cabahug in Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City after he surrendered.

Meanwhile, Labella also urged security agencies to go beyond the neuro-psychiatric examinations to ensure their workers are mentally-fit to carry arms and weapons.