Police looking at two possible angles in killing of bartender in Lapu-Lapu

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police are looking at two possible angles in the killing of a 41-year-old bartender at the Lapu-Lapu City Public Market in Barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City.

Jeffrey Paquibot, a resident of Barangay Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City, who worked as a bartender in a resto bar in Barangay Pajo, was shot to death by a still unidentified assailant on Monday dawn, May 23, 2022.

Police said initial investigations show that the suspect used a 38 revolver in shooting the victim in the head as the victim was about to eat a porridge he ordered in one of the stalls in the market.

Police Staff Sergeant Mario Torrejos of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station 3, who is the investigator-on-case, said that based on their initial investigation, the victim allegedly had a disagreement with a regular customer of the resto bar where he works at about two months ago.

“Ang atong investigation is underway pa and wala pa ta’y complete evidence, (but) the first is kana siya bartender dayon naay regular customer nila nga mura’g na link og usa ka entertainer, mura’g nauyab-uyab ba unya og magbikil-bikil to sila ang mag-uyab ug ang regular customer, siya (victim) mo intervene siya kay buotan man ning bataa g’yod. Wa g’yoy tawo nga miingon nga dili maayo,” Torrejos told CDN Digital.

(The investigation is underway and we don’t have complete evidence yet, (but) the first [angle] we’re looking at is his work as a bartender because there is a regular customer of the resto bar where works at who got linked with one of the entertainers and they sort of became a couple and when they fought, he would intervene because he is known to be a very kind person. No one ever said  anything bad about him.)

Torrejos said the victim’s intervening did not sit well with the said regular customer.

“Mura’g naa gyuy commotion gamay, which is mga two months na nahitabo,” Torrejos added.

(There was a slight commotion, which happened two months ago.)

Torrejos said the owner of the said bar helped settle the disagreement between the victim and the customer.

Torrejos said another angle they are following based on their initial profiling of the victim is his involvement in gambling.

He said the fact that the victim owns a chicken farm or “manukan,” even though his only obvious means of income is his job as a bartender, raises a red flag.

The victim has seven children but has since been separated from his previous live-in partners, Torrejos said.

“Kung atong tan-awon, pito iyang anak. Maka question ta kung giunsa niya pag-maintain ang maong sitwasyon nga pito iyang anak, buwag-buwag man ni siya sa iyang ka live-in unya naa siyay manokan, giunsa niya pag maintain ba nga gasto baya na,” Torrejos added.

(If we take a closer look, he has seven children. It makes us question how he is able to maintain the situation that he has seven children and he is separated from his live in partners. And he has a chicken farm. How would he be able to maintain those when that is an expensive hobby.)

Torrejos said they have at least two persons of interest as of the moment, whose names he did not disclose pending the investigation. Aside from the still unidentified gunman, another suspect was also manning their getaway motorcycle, he said.

He also said it was somehow “frustrating” on the part of the investigation that the incident was not recorded because the CCTV cameras near the crime scene were not functioning.

/bmjo

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