HUNT ON FOR UNGAB SLAY SUSPECTS

With just a few videos, sketchy leads, and a hesitant witness, police investigators are facing a tough task in trying to unmask the culprits in the ambush-slay of Cebuano lawyer and Ronda Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab.

A reward money to anyone who could provide vital information about the suspects would be of great help, said Supt. Ryan Devaras, chief of the Cebu City Investigation and Detective Management Branch and part of the Task Force Ungab.

“Monetary consideration can help motivate those who have knowledge about the crime to come into the open and help,” he said in a news conference on Friday.

But while they are open to the idea, members of the Ungab family are not keen on dangling a reward money to tipsters.

“We have the means to pay for the reward. However, if we set it as a precedent, it would be unfair for those who could not afford to pay any reward to attain justice,” said Ungab’s nephew John Majed, the family’s spokesperson, in a phone interview.

“We grieve for the death of a family member — a lawyer who believes in justice for everyone. If we do offer a reward money for the identification and arrest of the suspects, we’re giving the impression to people that only the rich can afford justice, when in fact, justice is for everyone since it covers all people,” he added.

Ungab’s body is set to be transported today from the St. Peter’s Funeral Chapel in Cebu City to the lawyer’s hometown Ronda, 81.5 kilometers southwest of Cebu City, after the 6:30 a.m. Mass.

His body will remain at the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish at the Ronda town proper before it will be laid to rest after the 1 p.m. funeral Mass on Sunday.

Instead of getting motivated by financial considerations, John Majed appealed to those who have knowledge about his uncle’s death to voluntarily come forward and help them secure justice.

“Our prayer is for the public to be vigilant and empathetic towards the situation, and to try putting themselves in our shoes. Try to wear our shoes and see things from our perspective. This could also happen to you. If this would not stop, it would set a cycle of violence,” he said.

Spotter’s photo

The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) on Friday released the screenshots of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footages showing the alleged “spotter” who spied on Ungab at the Qimonda IT Center, where the Cebu City Hall of Justice is located.

The male “spotter,” who appeared to be over 30 years old, wore a black T-shirt with the printed text that read “I ? SG,” and short pants.

He was captured on video while talking to someone on his cellular phone as he came near the Suzuki Kizashi car of Ungab when the lawyer, who was driving the car, picked up his wife Pearl at the lobby of Qimonda IT Center shortly before noon on Monday, February 19.

In another footage, the gunman, who was seen standing outside the gate of Qimonda IT Center, was also talking to someone on a cellular phone as Ungab’s car passed by before he casually walked up to the vehicle, which had slowed down to make a turn, and fired twice at the driver’s seat where Ungab was.

Devaras appealed to those who recognized the alleged “spotter” to come forward or to contact the Task Force Ungab through its hotline number – 09434221841.

“We’re interested at him because his actions matched with what the gunman was doing shortly before the crime transpired. His actions were questionable because it was as if he tried to verify who was inside the car and he also looked at the plate number of the vehicle. His actions were very crucial,” he explained.

The supposed “spotter” has been considered by the police as a “person of interest.”

Devaras said the person whose photograph they released to the media may come to their office to shed light on what he was doing near Ungab’s car.

“If he is innocent, he must come to us and clear his name. At the very least, he must explain his actions,” he said.

Investigators tried to browse through the security logbook of the Qimonda IT Center to determine the name of the alleged “spotter.”

To their dismay, they learned that the visitors who entered the building were not asked to write down their names on the logbook but were simply asked to leave their identification cards while getting a control number in return.

Hesitant witness

“Those were lapses in the security of Qimonda which must be addressed. Had they asked the visitors to write down their names on the logbook, it would have helped us in the investigation,” Devaras said.

So far, the Task Force Ungab only found one witness, a bystander who claimed to have seen the shooting of Ungab.

While he narrated what he saw, Devaras said the witness was hesitant to formally execute an affidavit out of fear that the assailant might get back at him.

“Witnesses are very important in solving a crime. That is why we encourage those who happen to see the incident to cooperate with the police. We need you because, without witnesses, we cannot file a case against the culprits,” he said.

Professional hitman

Based on their observation, Devaras said the assailant was a veteran hitman.

“The manner of execution was very professional. In fact, he only fired twice and both were fatal. We believe he was really a hitman who was paid to kill the victim,” he said.

The police are going over the rogues’ gallery, hoping to identify Ungab’s killer from previous arrest of suspected hitmen.

For now, Devaras said it’s hard to determine the motive behind the killing of Ungab since they were still gathering evidence from various sources.

“Our focus now is to identify and arrest the suspects. The motive of the killing will come later,” he said.

Senior Insp. Jonathan Taneo, spokesperson of Task Force Ungab, said they were coordinating with their counterparts in the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu as well as other localities in the province of Cebu to determine where the assailant and the driver of the get-away motorcycle went after the crime.

Based on another footage of the CCTV camera, the two culprits were heading to the direction of Mandaue City after killing Ungab.

“We are considering all escape points to find out where they stopped,” Taneo said.

Taneo said they were also looking into reports that Ungab received death threats since 2015.

Just last February 2, 2018, the lawyer purportedly went to the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police to report what appeared to be a threat and an extortion.

However, Ungab did not push through with the complaint and did not fully disclose details of the supposed threat.

“Amid the obstacles we are facing, we’re confident that we will be able to solve this case although we could not give any time frame. There is a sense of urgency on our part, but we also have to be careful so that we will be able to get the real culprits,” Taneo explained.

In search of crucial footage

Director Patricio Bernales of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7), said they were reviewing all the footages of the CCTV cameras at Qimonda IT Center not only on the day Ungab was killed but also the preceding days.

“We hope to get something relevant from it,” he told Cebu Daily News.

While they secure other videos of the actual killing, Bernales said it’s difficult to identify the gunman since the latter was wearing a face mask when he shot Ungab.

“Our agents are on field to gather more information and pieces of evidence,” he said.

Bernales said they would be submitting to the NBI Cybercrime Division the contents of Ungab’s cellular phone, including what they considered a death threat a week before the lawyer was gunned down.

He refused to reveal other details of the CCTV footages the NBI have so as not to compromise the investigation.
The NBI-7, he said, has not found any witness to Ungab’s slay yet.

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