By Jennifer P. Rendon and Glazyl Y. Masculino
Two drug surrenderers were shot dead in Iloilo and Negros Occidental provinces on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A lone suspect gunned down 44-year-old Aquiles Po in the presence of his wife inside their house at Kauswagan Village in Barangay Alegre, Oton, Iloilo Wednesday morning.
Po and his wife are from Barangay Baldoza, La Paz, Iloilo City but they were staying in Oton after the victim was hired as a caretaker
Colonel Gilbert Gorero, Iloilo police chief, said the assailant pumped several bullets into the victim before fleeing.
Gorero said it appeared that the suspect was the lone target as the wife was unscathed.
The gunman immediately left the house and boarded a waiting motorcycle driven by another man. They sped off to an unknown direction.
Aside from being a drug surrenderer, Po was also involved in theft and robbery cases.
But investigators are still looking into the motive behind the killing.
Gorero said there were also reports that that suspect had figured in a misunderstanding with another man a few months back.
For now, police are still establishing leads to identify the suspects and the motive of the killing.
Meanwhile, the Himamaylan City Police Station in Negros Occidental is exploring the possible angles behind the murder of a drug surrenderer in Barangay 4 on Tuesday.
Rolyn Gutierrez, 29, of the said village was driving a tricycle with his 57-year-old male passenger, when two unidentified men on a motorcycle overtook his vehicle and shot him, police records showed.
The victim sustained gunshot wounds in the face and stomach. He was brought to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police recovered from the scene two fired cartridges of .45-caliber ammunition. The victim’s passenger was unharmed.
Lt. Alfred Mansoy, deputy police chief of Himamaylan City Police Station, said they are still doing profiling on the victim’s identity.
The victim was reportedly tagged as a member of a drug group, but Mansoy said they are still verifying the report.
Mansoy said they still have no lead on the identities of the perpetrators.
