Hotel owner shot dead in Cebu, a day after brother's ambush

Motorcycle-riding men, one of them wielding an automatic weapon, shot dead a 72-year-old hotel and hardware store owner in an ambush in Cebu City on Tuesday night. Manuel Ting, 72, died of gunshot wounds in different parts of the body during the ambush at Tisa village in Cebu City past 6 p.m. Tuesday, Radio dzRH reported early Wednesday. The ambush took place after the victim’s brother, Nicolas, was wounded in a separate incident in Mandaue City the day before. Central Visayas police director Chief Superintendent Lani-O Neres formed a task force to investigate the incident, along with a similar ambush on Ting’s brother in Mandaue City Monday. Ting, who owns the Park Lane Hotel in Cebu, died before he could be brought to a nearby hospital. Police, who recovered at least 26 shells from a 9-mm pistol from the crime scene, are trying to interview one of Ting’s children, who he managed to contact by cell phone before he died. A separate report by dzBB’s Cebu affiliate said Ting's injuries included four gunshot wounds in the head and seven in the body. Initial investigation showed Ting was driving a Mercedes Benz sedan (MGT-168) and was passing the Gaisano Capital area, when he was attacked. Investigators are looking into the possibility that business rivalry was the motive for the incident, even as Ting’s relatives said he had no personal enemies. - RJAB Jr./LBG, GMANews.TV