Retired anti-drug cop, son slain in Mandaluyong

MANILA, Philippines - A retired police official and his son were killed in an ambush in Mandaluyong City yesterday.

Former Chief Inspector Hoover Pascual, 54, used to head the drug enforcement units (DEUs) of Mandaluyong and San Juan.

He and his son Bryan Henrick, 33, died on their way to a hospital from gunshot wounds in their heads and bodies.

“We are initially eyeing his former jobs as DEU chief in two cities,” said Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, Eastern Police District director, adding that Pascual accomplished a lot in the war against illegal drugs.

Pascual availed of optional retirement in October last year while he was San Juan’s DEU chief, according to Mandaluyong police chief Senior Superintendent Joaquin Alva.

He was overseeing a chain of apartments he inherited from his parents.

The Pascuals and Bryan’s girlfriend, Marigold Remo, left the victims’ house along Coronado street in a Mercedes Benz (PJW-733) when they were attacked by men in a white van at the corner of Blumentritt and Primo Cruz streets in Barangay Hulo at around 1 a.m.

Pascual was behind the wheel while his son was in the front seat.

“It appears that there were more than two suspects. One opened fire at the ex-cop and another at his son while the van blocked the victim’s vehicle,” Alva said in an interview.

The Pascuals were hit in the head and upper body. Remo, who was in the back seat, escaped unhurt.

Remo took her boyfriend to Lourdes Hospital while another of Pascual’s sons took the retired lawman to the Mandaluyong City Medical Center.

Crime scene investigators recovered four bullet casings, caliber unknown, from the crime scene but Alva said they were waiting for their report as of 3 p.m. yesterday.

No witnesses have come forward and investigators are checking surveillance cameras near the crime scene.