Stock photo of a man with a gun
CEBU CITY, Philippines —A disagreement over illegal drugs could have been the reason a resident of Barangay Cogon-Pardo was shot dead on Friday, December 10 in Sitio Hawaii of the barangay.
Police Corporal Jaymos Tordios, Pardo Police Station investigator, said they had identified the suspect in the killing of Mark Desabelle, 29, a resident of Barangay Cogon-Pardo.
Tordios said that they were withholding the name of the suspect because of an ongoing operation against him.
He said that a witness positively identified the suspect as the one who shot dead Desabelle.
Tordios said that they were investigating illegal drugs as a possible motive in the killing especially since the victim was allegedly a drug user and was jailed for illegal drugs.
He, however, said that he did not know when Desabelle was released from jail.
Tordios also said that the victim’s live-in partner also confirmed that the victim was allegedly a known drug user in the area.
The victim’s partner also told police that her partner went to the area where he was killed to allegedly get some illegal drugs.
“According to the live-in-partner, ang kadtong victim was a known drug user in their place unya mao lagi to sigeg [pangayo sa mga nagbaligyag drugs ba ron, mga parok, ug kung di tagaan mao to nga maghasol. Possibly mao to siyay hinungdan nga gipatay siya,” Tordios said.
(According to the live-in partner, the victim was allegedly a known drug user in their place, and allegedly he would ask for illegal drugs from those selling these illegal items. And if they would refuse to give illegal drugs, his partner would then allegedly become agitated and would bother anyone he would meet. This was possibly the reason he was killed.)
Initial investigation showed that Desabelle allegedly met a “drug personality” in the area who was allegedly selling illegal drugs.
A witness told police that the victim started arguing with the suspect, which ended in the latter shooting the victim twice — in the back and in the leg.
Police later found the body of the victim lying prone on a wooden footbridge in the area.
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