Victim in downtown Cebu City shooting identified as pawnshop owner, former NBI asset

Members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) of the Cebu City Police Office process the crime scene where a motorcycle driver was shot dead in the area of Colon and Panganiban Streets in Barangay Pahina Central, Cebu City this evening of Jan. 30, 2023. The shooting happened at past 5 p.m. today. | Contributed via Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Authorities have already identified the victim of a shooting that happened in one of Cebu City’s busiest junctions.

Police here confirmed that still unidentified gunmen shot dead Joseph Canonigo around 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Colon and Panganiban Streets in downtown Cebu City on Monday, Jan. 30.

Canonigo happened to be the owner of a pawnshop based in a commercial building on Colon Street, police said as they recovered several belongings, including multiple IDs, cash, a gun, and several bullets from the victim.

Canonigo was also said to have previously worked as an asset of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), police added.

Enforcers received a shooting alarm in Colon Street at past 5 p.m. on Monday. Citing accounts from witnesses and passersby, Police Staff Sergeant Kitch Daryl Palaña from Carbon Police Station (Station 5) said the assailant pulled the trigger when Canonigo slowed down near a traffic light at the junction.

In the meantime, Palaña told reporters that they continue to investigate and determine possible motives, and the identities of the suspects behind the gruesome killing.

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