Businessman, alleged Talisay hitman killed

CEBU, Philippines — In a span of five hours, a businessman and an alleged hired killer were shot dead in two separate incidents in Talisay City and Mandaue City yesterday morning.

In Mandaue City, 58-year-old Johnson Chiaoco was shot in the head as he got off his Nissan Navara early yesterday morning.

The assailant reportedly left the scene on board a motorcycle driven by a cohort.

Mandaue cops received the alarm at 8:25 a.m., but Chiaoco did not make it to the hospital alive.

Mandaue City Police Office Director, Senior Supt. Julian Entoma, said Chiaoco owned a paint supplying business and was involved in several construction firms.

Chiaoco’s family said it was possible that the assailant monitored the victim before the shooting to know his routine.

Entoma said they are dismissing robbery as motive in the shooting since the suspects did not get the money and other valuables inside the vehicle.

He said investigation will focus on the conflict between Chiaoco’s previous business partnerships. Chiaoco reportedly received death threats via phone sometime in June but he did not take those seriously and did not even report to the police.

His former business partner reportedly decided to leave the partnership in the paint supplying business because the venture was losing. However, when Chiaoco was able to keep the business afloat, the business partner reportedly became “spiteful.”

“We found out nga losing ni ang ilang business, and ang partner nitiwalag, ni-survive ni iyang negosyo through sa iyang pagpaningkamot, and murag nasuko ni iyang partner so mao na amo gitan-aw if naa ba capacity mu hire og killer ang partner,” he said.

Entoma said they will request the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) to help probe the killing.

Meanwhile, hours earlier in Talisay City, a suspected gun-for-hire identified as Billy Baguio was shot dead after he attempted to shoot it out with cops during a hot pursuit against him for a rape case.

Talisay Police Station chief Marlu Conag it was the enforcement unit (DEU) that operated against Baguio because he is already included in the station’s drug watch list for involvement with a high-value target drug personality, Marissa Obrero.

It was reportedly Baguio who drew his gun first, prompting the cops to fire the first shot.

Conag said Baguio was elusive and was behind some of the killings in Talisay.

“Matagal na hinahanap, at the same time, isa sa siya sa mga target ng (DEU), nasa watchlist…marami na siyang pinatay, notorious hired-killer, sa sobrang high sa drugs kaya hindi na siya nakatago siguro.” (FREEMAN)