ABS-CBN director killed in Makati bar shooting

[EL Chicane]

Hindi rin ako naniniwala na somebody gave him a gun.

Pero isa lang ang pwedeng ma-prove kaagad dito, kapag ang isang tao eh nag-dilim ang paningin at nakahawak ng baril, trahedya ang siguradong kasunod.

[odell]

nasa balita ito kanina ha... nahuli na un bumaril..

[scarab]

....sana lang di fallguy yan na kung san san lang dinampot para lang masabing may nahuli ng killer.

[Monseratto]

Hmmm...maraming involved pala!

Marine major's gun used in Santiago slay

THE GUN used by the primary suspect in shooting to death television director Louis Santiago outside an upscale bar in Makati City last month apparently belongs to a Marine major, said officials of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police.

Six others were wounded in the incident.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said they would issue a subpoena to Marine Major Robert Velasco and ask him to explain how his gun landed in the hands of suspect Oliver Jameiro's female companion, Charito Angeles.

Wycoco said they would also subpoena Angeles to the NBI to find out her involvement in the case. According to Jameiro's affidavit, Angeles handed him the gun which he used during a fight at the Venezia (V-Bar) parking lot.

Jameiro, a 32-year-old businessman engaged in the buying and selling of cars, was apprehended by NBI agents in Marikina City last Sunday. "We have coordinated with Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Gen. Efren Abu regarding Velasco's appearance," Wycoco said in a press conference at the NBI Tuesday.

Makati chief of police Senior Supt. Jovito Gutierrez said they verified that Velasco was the registered owner of the Glock .357 firearm used in the V-Bar shooting incident last June 8.

Jameiro recounted in his statement that he was at the bar with Angeles, Rogelio Rodriguez and Gino Castro when he saw a friend and another woman fighting outside around 4 a.m.

Jameiro's attempt to pacify the women, however, led to a brawl. The suspect said he remembered crawling toward a nearby parked vehicle to escape the angry crowd. Angeles then handed him a gun, he added.

"Feeling totally helpless and with only survival on my mind, I got hold of the gun and without any malice, instinctively squeezed the trigger," Jameiro said in his statement.

He added: "I had no intention of shooting or hurting anybody because my action was propelled by my instinct to survive."

SPO2 Merquiodi Bodanio, who was shot in the forearm, however, said he saw Jameiro pointing the gun at him and his partner. "I got in our patrol car when I saw Jameiro point the gun at me," said Bodanio, who had gone to the area immediately following a report on the incident.

Jameiro added in his statement that he boarded Angeles' Toyota Hi-Lux to get away from the scene after the shooting.

Singapore-bound
An NBI source said Jameiro and Angeles sped to the latter's home at the posh Hillsborough subdivision in Alabang where they left behind the Toyota Hi-Lux. The couple then went to Jameiro's home in Marikina City to get some clothes before heading to the airport, where they took a plane for Singapore on the same day.

The source added that Angeles left for the United States after a few days in Singapore. Jameiro, on the other hand, returned to the Philippines after a week.

Jameiro apparently sent surrender feelers after allegedly receiving death threats.

The NBI has filed charges of homicide and direct assault upon an agent or person in authority with attempted homicide against Jameiro before the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to the NBI National Capital Region chief, lawyer Edmund Arugay.

National Capital Region Police Office Director Vidal Querol said they would be filing obstruction of justice charges against Angeles' mother Estrella for refusing to cooperate with the police when asked about her daughter's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Henry Salazar, the Makati City second assistant prosecutor handling the criminal complaint against Jameiro, said Tuesday that he could not act on the pending case until there is prior action from other agencies.

"What was filed before this office was a case about the shooting before the alleged shooter surrendered," said Salazar.

On June 24, the Makati Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division filed before the City Prosecutor's Office charges of homicide, attempted homicide, and direct assault upon a person of authority against the alleged assailant in the incident.

The charges were filed against a suspect identified as either Oliver Perez, Oliver Angeles or Oliver Castro, as police then had yet to identify the alleged shooter. After Jameiro's surrender, a separate criminal case was filed against him before the DOJ.