Danao shooting: 4 gunmen kill suspected drug lord’s wife, turn V-day celebration into tragic one 

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A Valentine’s Day celebration turned into a tragic one for the family of suspected drug lord Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro when four unidentified assailants barged into their home in Danao City and shot dead “Barok’s” wife, Alma, at dawn of February 15.

The four gunmen, who were wearing bonnets, dragged Alma Alvaro, 40, out of the house in Barangay Cabungahan in Danao City, shot her on the head twice, and then fled on motorcycles, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, Danao City Police Station chief, in a phone interview with CDN Digital on February 15.

Macatangay said that Alma was rushed to the hospital but the attending physician declared her dead on arrival.

The Danao police chief said that Alma was shot on the right side of the head and on the face near the nose.

Alma is the wife of the arrested suspected drug lord, Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro, who remains jailed at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) since he surrendered in 2016 to police.

Macatangay said that initial investigation showed that Alma and her family including her child were believed to be celebrating Valentine’s Day inside their house which continued into the early morning of February 15.

At 3 a.m., four unidentified gunmen, who were wearing bonnets, barged into the house of the Alvaros, ordered everyone in the house to lie face down on the floor, then dragged Alma out of the house where they shot her.

The assailants then fled on motorcycles.

Macatangay said they did not know about the shooting until an hour later or at 4 a.m. today when a call from the hospital informed them about it.

They then rushed to the hospital and then to the crime scene to investigate the shooting incident.

Macatangay said that police were still gathering details from witnesses and were still trying to find the possible motive of the killing.

She also said that they were not discounting the possibility that this shooting incident was a drug-related one because she is the wife of “Barok” Alvaro.

“We are not discounting possible involvement sa mga previous nga panghitabo sa iyang kabanay nga si Alvaro ‘Barok’ Alvaro,” Macatangay said.

(We are not discounting the possible involvement of the previous incidents of their relative (her husband), who is Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro.) 

Barok’s link to illegal drugs was previously disclosed by National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) and his connection to drug personalities in Manila. Alvaro surrendered in Bohol last June 21, 2016./dbs

Read: NBI-Bohol officials receive P200K for Barok surrender