By Jennifer P. Rendon
It appears that the victim who survived the shooting incident in Passi City, Iloilo Saturday afternoon was the only real target of the suspects.
Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Pamonag, Passi City police chief, said their investigation led them to believe that the involvement of Kenneth Dorado in a murder and frustrated murder case may have something to do with the incident.
Dorado, 38, of Barangay Bahit, Panit-an, Capiz survived despite a gunshot injury on his leg after armed persons on board a Toyota Vios sedan peppered with bullets the van they were riding.
While Dorado survived, the incident claimed the lives of his live-in partner, Jennelyn Griño, 32, of Barangay Tanza-Esperanza, City Proper district, Iloilo City, and his neighbor, Joemar Fuentes, 18.
Pamonag noted that the gunmen did not aim at the driver, Jennifer Opina, 40, of Poblacion Ilaya, Ivisan, Capiz.
The bullets were all concentrated on the second-row seats where Griño and Dorado were situated.
The gunmen fired the gun from a slanting position, thus, the bullets hit Fuentes.
Dorado was not fatally hit as Griño “shielded” him.
Both fatalities succumbed to gunshot wounds on the head.
Immediately after the incident, Dorado mentioned a person from Panit-an town who may have a hand in the ambush. The man allegedly poked a gun at him in a previous incident.
The man has also constantly claimed that he will have him killed, even in the presence of Dorado’s mother.
“We’re still verifying the identity of that person,” Pamonag said.
Opina has earlier attested that what happened could be a case of road rage.
He told investigators that they overtook the red Toyota Vios sedan (license plate FEN 202) at the radial road in Zarraga, Iloilo around 1:00 pm Saturday.
An hour after, they stopped to eat lunch in a roadside eatery in Passi City. They resumed their trip without any incident.
While they were traversing a curve along Barangay Aglalana around 3:30 p.m., Opina said he heard successive gunfire.
He immediately stopped the van and took cover.
The hail of bullets came from the red Vios, which they had overtaken in Zarraga town.
One of the gunmen was armed with a long firearm.
Opina claimed he heard at least 13 gunshots fired at their vehicle.
After the smoke was cleared, he saw that his two passengers were fatally hit.
Police investigation showed that there were three persons in the red Vios, with two of them shooting the van.
Recovered from the crime scene were eight cartridges of caliber .9mm ammunition and nine cartridges of caliber 5.56mm ammunition.
Nothing significant was taken from the victims. One of the bags had a wallet containing P5,000 cash, a mobile phone, and a make-up kit. Other bags also contained the victims’ personal belongings.
Reports said the suspects sped off going to Capiz but later made a U-turn going back to Passi City.
Police investigation showed that Dorado is a drug surrenderer in Capiz.
According to Barangay Captain Maria Analiza Dorado of Bahit village, Kenneth Dorado is her nephew. He was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Roxas City in 2009 and was released from incarceration in 2016.
Just like Dorado, Griño was also an alleged drug personality.
In fact, she was only released from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Pototan, Iloilo more than two months ago.
She was incarcerated for four years after she was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Arevalo, Iloilo City.
