Bantay Dagat chief, nephew shot dead in Batangas
MARLON LUISTRO, GMANews.TV
09/10/2009 | 12:19 PM
The local head of Bantay Dagat (Sea Patrol force) and his nephew were killed in an ambush in Barangay Poblacion in San Juan town in Batangas province on Wednesday, the local police said.
Superintendent Manuel Abrugena, San Juan police chief, identified the victims as Marcel de Chavez, 47, Bantay Dagat chairman and resident of Barangay Pinagbayanan; and his 37-year-old nephew Ruel de Chavez, a resident of Barangay Tipas.
Initial investigation showed that at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the victims were refueling their owner type jeep (with plate number DKJ-372), when a lone gunman approached them and shot the victims pointblank.
Abrugena said the suspect first shot Ruel, who was driving of the jeep, and then fired multiple shots at Marcel, who died on the spot.
He said that the suspect sped away on a red motorcycle without registration number.
According to Abrugena, authorities tried to chase the gunman and set up blockades on possible exit points, but they failed to track him down.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Abrugena said they were not discounting the possibility that the attack may be work-related as the victim was active in the town's campaign against illegal fishing.
He, however, said they were also looking at the angle of personal grudge as motive for the attack.
"In February 2008, the victim (Marcel de Chavez) was also ambushed, but survived," Abrugena said.
He added that Marcel's death might have been planned, and that the lone suspect was a member of a gun-for-hire group.
Police records showed that cartridges of cal. 9 mm and cal. 45 pistol and several bullets were recovered form the crime scene.
This was the second time in six years that a Bantay Dagat leader was killed in Batangas. In May 2003, then Calatagan Bantay Dagat chairman Sixto Atienza was killed by armed men while he was delivering his speech in a fiesta celebration of Barangay Bagong Silang. - GMANews.TV
Superintendent Manuel Abrugena, San Juan police chief, identified the victims as Marcel de Chavez, 47, Bantay Dagat chairman and resident of Barangay Pinagbayanan; and his 37-year-old nephew Ruel de Chavez, a resident of Barangay Tipas.
Initial investigation showed that at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the victims were refueling their owner type jeep (with plate number DKJ-372), when a lone gunman approached them and shot the victims pointblank.
Abrugena said the suspect first shot Ruel, who was driving of the jeep, and then fired multiple shots at Marcel, who died on the spot.
He said that the suspect sped away on a red motorcycle without registration number.
According to Abrugena, authorities tried to chase the gunman and set up blockades on possible exit points, but they failed to track him down.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Abrugena said they were not discounting the possibility that the attack may be work-related as the victim was active in the town's campaign against illegal fishing.
He, however, said they were also looking at the angle of personal grudge as motive for the attack.
"In February 2008, the victim (Marcel de Chavez) was also ambushed, but survived," Abrugena said.
He added that Marcel's death might have been planned, and that the lone suspect was a member of a gun-for-hire group.
Police records showed that cartridges of cal. 9 mm and cal. 45 pistol and several bullets were recovered form the crime scene.
This was the second time in six years that a Bantay Dagat leader was killed in Batangas. In May 2003, then Calatagan Bantay Dagat chairman Sixto Atienza was killed by armed men while he was delivering his speech in a fiesta celebration of Barangay Bagong Silang. - GMANews.TV
