3 dead in Caloocan, QC shootings

MANILA, Philippines - Three men were killed in separate shootings in Caloocan and Quezon City yesterday.

Edher Evangelista, 32, and a man identified only as Buboy – both with reported links to the illegal drug trade – were in a house on Kawal street in Barangay 28, Caloocan when the assailants, clad in black jackets and wearing helments, barged inside and shot them repeatedly, said Senior Superintendent Chito Bersaluna, city police chief.

The victims died at the scene. Probers recovered three spent shells from a .45 caliber pistol and five sachets of shabu.

In Quezon City, a still unidentified man was killed and abandoned in front of a church along Camia street in Barangay Bagong Pag-asa just before 1 a.m.

The man died from a gunshot wound in the nape, behind one ear, police said.

A pair of handcuffs, with serial number 0857, was attached to the victim’s right ankle.

A witness told police he saw the body lying on the pavement when he went out of his house to relieve himself, prompting him to call the police.

A fired cartridge case of a still unknown caliber was found near the crime scene.

3 drug dens raided

Also in Quezon City, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested 15 persons when its agents raided three alleged drug dens in Barangay Holy Spirit.

It was PDEA’s first operation in Metro Manila without its police counterpart.

Among those arrested were Jose Ballonico, alias Batute, and his daughter Gloria Santos, alias Yayang, targets of the search warrants held by PDEA.

A third target of the search warrants, Arnold Tagalan, was not home when agents raided his house on St. Florence street, said PDEA-National Capital Region director Wilkins Villanueva.

At least six visitors were arrested at Tagalan’s home, where drug paraphernalia and at least 18 sachets said to contain shabu were seized.

Santos’ husband and two others were arrested at her house on Everlasting street while five more were caught in Ballonico’s house on Jasmine street.

Agents were able to purchase shabu from Santos during a test buy last month, Villanueva said.

Chief barangay public safety officer Noel Abecendario said drug pushing was reportedly a family business for Ballonico and his daughter, who refused to surrender during Oplan Tokhang.

The Quezon City police officers provided security during the raid since President Duterte prohibited police officers from conducting anti-drug operations.

Villanueva said this has put a heavier burden on PDEA agents during raids.

PDEA-NCR has less than a hundred operatives compared to the more than 300 policemen previously assigned to the anti-illegal drug units of the Quezon City police. 

Anti-crime drive

In Pasig, at least nine people were rounded up in anti-crime operations on Wednesday.

Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, Eastern Police District director, said they shifted to targeting crime-prone areas after Duterte dissolved the police anti-narcotics units. 

Around 50 members of the EPD and the Pasig police raided Bolante 1 in Barangay Pinagbuhatan to serve arrest warrants. 

They rounded up nine persons and one of them, Mambo Ran Casim, yielded three sachets of shabu, Sapitula said. The other eight were later released after a background check showed they had no derogatory records. – Rey Galupo, Romina Cabrera, Non Alquitran