31 deaths, none solved

METRO CEBU KILLINGS IN ONE MONTH

AT least 31 persons were killed by unknown assailants in separate incidents in Metro Cebu in just a month. But not a single case has been resolved yet.
Supt. Reymar Tolentin, information officer of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said the lack of witnesses has been a hindrance in the investigations.

“We just could not arrest any person without concrete proofs that they were involved in the killings. We have to be very careful in conducting investigation. We need witnesses. Otherwise, any case that we have is weak,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

Tolentin said the police nonetheless continue to leave no stone unturned in the hope of identifying the perpetrators.

“These killings happened just days ago. Please give us time to conduct the investigations. We are not sleeping on it,” he said.

Among the murder cases that remain unresolved were the ambush-slay of lawyer and Ronda town Vice Mayor Jonnah John Ungab, Korean businessman Shang Ho Lee, SPO1 Ben Serjihos, PO2 Rome Bolaño and San Fernando town Councilor Alexander Alicaway.

These killings happened from February 17 to March 14, based on the tally made by Cebu Daily News. Alicaway, 49, was the latest casualty in the series of killings in Metro Cebu, most of which were perpetrated by men riding in tandem on a motorcycle.

Senior Supt. Edgar Alan Okubo, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, said they have yet to identify the two motorcycle-riding assailants who shot dead Alicaway while the latter was walking from his grocery store in the market to the nearby Sangguniang Bayan office in Barangay South Poblacion, San Fernando town past 5 p.m. last Wednesday, March 14.

The culprits took Alicaway’s cellphone and necklace but left behind his wallet.

Alicaway has no criminal records and was not on the list of personalities involved in any illegal activity.

Localized probe

Okubo said they believed that the killing of Alicaway may have been related to his work as municipal councilor.

“Based on the evidence that we have gathered, there is a possibility that the motive behind the killing had something to do with his work as public servant. Perhaps, the suspects took his phone so they would know what he was up to or maybe, they just wanted to bring the belongings with them,” he said.

Okubo, however, did not elaborate since the investigation by the San Fernando police was still ongoing.

“There is no need to create a task force for now. We leave it to the police chief of San Fernando. If they will have a hard time, then we might create a task force,” Okubo explained.

Okubo said he would ask all police stations and units to intensify police visibility to discourage criminals from carrying out assassination plots.

“These assailants are taking advantage of the situation because they could not see policemen in the streets,” he said.

“I just have to remind our policemen to intensify their beat patrol deployments to address the killings,” he added.

Okubo assured the public that there is no cause for alarm since the killings were isolated and were likely caused by personal grudges.

Family’s appeal

Alexandra, the eldest of Alicaway’s four children, appealed to the police to do their best to identify the perpetrators so that justice will be served.

“We were shocked with what happened. We never expected our father to die that way because he was a good man,” she told Cebu Daily News in Cebuano.

“We’re hoping the perpetrators will be identified. All we want is justice,” she added.

Tolentin also appealed to those who witnessed the different crimes in Cebu to come forward and help the police in the investigation.

“We badly need witnesses so that we can identify the suspects. It’s really hard to conduct an investigation without any witness,” he said.

He said they would not want to turn these murder incidents into cold cases, or killings that would remain unsolved after six months.

“These are cases wherein there are no more updates and developments. What we do is to forward them to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group,” Tolentin said.

Chief Supt. Robert Quenery, the director of the PRO-7, earlier directed the police units in Metro Cebu to solve these cases. He also ordered for more police visibility and for the police to go after unlicensed firearms in an attempt to address the killings.

“Our operations against loose firearms will continue to stop would-be killers,” he said.

“Police visibility can also help,” he added.