Former Lamitan, Basilan Mayor Rose Furigay (Photo from Facebook)
MANILA, Philippines — A “determined assassin” was how Quezon City Police District Director Police Brigadier General Remus Medina described Chao Tiao Yumol, the 38-year-old doctor from Lamitan, Basilan, who opened fire during a graduation ceremony at the Ateneo de Manila in Quezon City on Sunday, killing three people.
Among those killed in the gun attack was former Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay. The former mayor was the intended target of the attack, police said.
Medina said Yumol did not keep a permanent address as he was always on the move before the attack.
“Wala siyang address. Tinatanong namin kung saan siya nakatira, saan siya nagtatago, palipat-lipat siya, natutulog siya sa kalsada, sa sasakyan, so mukhang determined assassin itong lumalabas si Doctor Yumol,” Medina said in a press conference.
(He has no address here, we asked him where he stayed here, where he was hiding, but he is just going from one place to the other, sleeping on the road, in his vehicle, so it seems like Doctor Yumul is a determined assassin.)
Yumol also has no residence in Metro Manila, according to Medina.
Police said, Yumol, used a taxi booked through a mobile phone ride-hailing app. The taxi then entered the university campus with Yumol who was armed with two pistols.
“According to him, nag-rent lang siya ng Grab taxi, tapos hindi naman siya na-inspect tuloy tuloy siya sa loob, yun lang, kaya siya nakapasok sa loob ng Ateneo,” Medina said in a press conference held in Quezon City.
(According to him, he rented a Grab taxi, which was not inspected when it entered the campus.)
Inside the campus, Yumol then patiently waited for Furigay at the lobby of the Aretè building where the graduation of the Ateneo Law School was supposed take place. Furigay was attending the graduation of her daughter Hannait.
At about 3:30 p.m., police said Yumol then spotted his target and opened fire. Hit in the attack were former mayor Furigay, her daughter, the former mayor’s executive assistant identified as Victor George Capistrano, and an Ateneo security guard.
Police said former mayor Furigay, Capistrano and the unidentified security guard were killed. Hannait meanwhile was hurt and was taken to a hospital.
After the attack, police said Yumol commandeered a vehicle and drove out of the campus in his bid to escape. Police said Yumol was blocked by a mob on reaching Aurora Boulevard after he plowed through several cars and motorcycles. Yumol was then placed under arrest by responding police officers.
Medina said further investigation will be conducted on Yumol including how he managed to bring in guns into the Ateneo campus despite a gun ban being enforced in Quezon City for the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Yun nga ang inaalam natin, paano niya nagawa yun dahil ang baril niya, hindi lang isa, dalawa pa ang dala niyang baril,” Medina pointed out.
(That’s what we are trying to determine — how he did that [despite the gun ban] and he doesn’t only have one gun but two guns.)
Police said the gun attack was triggered by Yumol’s “personal motives.”