Police looking into business angle in Liloan ambush

Celso Conje Jamilo was ambushed on board his vehicle on Wednesday evening, March 13, 2019, in Barangay Tayud, Liloan town, northern Cebu. | contributed photo

Cebu City, Philippines — Investigators are now looking into business as one of the motives behind the death of a businessman who was killed in an ambush on Wednesday evening, March 13, 2019, in Barangay Tayud, Liloan town, northern Cebu. 

Police from the Liloan Police Station identified the victim as Celso Conje Jamilo, 63, who owns several parlors and hair salons in the town, which is located 22.7 kilometers north of Cebu City. 

Chief Inspector Danilo Colipano, head of Liloan Police Station, said relatives of Jamilo told investigators that the victim had been receiving death threats before he was killed. 

“Base sa pagpahinabi sa pamilya, nakadawat na daw ni siya ug pagpanghulga sa iyahang kinabuhi before pa nahitabo ang pagbanhig,” said Colipano. 

Initial findings from the police showed that Jamilo was on his way home when unidentified suspects on board a motorcycle waylaid, and shot him past 6 p.m. on Wednesday. 

Jamilo was rushed to a nearby private hospital in the neighboring town of Consolacion but physicians declared him dead on arrival due to multiple gunshot wounds on his body. 

Colipano said the victim’s family believed his rivals in the industry wanted him dead. 

“Nakastorya nasad mi sa iyahang asawa unya naa siyay gimention nga ngalan. Pero so far we cannot dilvuge more information para di ma preempt atoang follow-up operations and investigations,” he added.  

Colipano also said police are now in the process of obtaining closed-circuit television (CCTV) footages from establishments near the crime scene to help them identify the suspects. /bmjo