Athletics group head survives slay attempt

Philippine athletics head Go Teng Kok survived a slay attempt by two motorcycle-riding gunmen who ambushed him as he was en route to his office at the Rizal Memorial Sports complex in Malate yesterday morning. Go, 58, president of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (PATAFA), was in stable condition in the Ospital ng Maynila hours after doctors removed a bullet from his cheek. He was later transferred to St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City.

President Arroyo condemned "in strong terms, the slay attempt" on Go and ordered police to "bring the perpetrators to justice," her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

"The President has ordered the PNP (Philippine National Police) to immediately conduct an investigation of this transgression," he said. "We hope that whoever was behind this would be brought to justice at the soonest possible time."

Police said they had no suspects. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco said he had assembled a team of investigators to track down the suspects.

Superintendent Edgar Danao, chief of the Western Police District (WPD) Investigation and Intelligence Division, will lead the team.

"We should stop speculations as to what prompted the attempt on the life of Mr. Go until after (police) conclude their investigation of the incident," Velasco said. "As I have instructed the Manila police, we will not rest until the assassins are placed behind bars."

Velasco directed WPD director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong to exert all efforts to identify and arrest the gunmen as well as the mastermind behind the attack.

Velasco urged people who witnessed the assault to surface and help the police catch the suspects.

PO1 Frederick Azul said Go, driving his black Mitsubishi Adventure with license plates XDK-825, was waiting for Mercedita Dalauyan, the guard on duty, to open the gates of the PATAFA compound along Adriatico street when a gunman approached the vehicle and fired two successive shots.

Upon hearing the shots, Dalauyan went into the PATAFA office to ask for help.

When she returned with other PATAFA personnel, Go had already been taken to the hospital by members of the Philippine Amateur Judo Association — Johnson Benjamin, Christopher Romero, Aristotle Lucero, and their coach Dionisio Lucero — who happened to drop by the area.

Witnesses told WPD investigators that the gunman, after firing at Go, boarded an Isuzu Enduro-type motorcycle with control number 777 driven by another suspect.

Taxi driver Armando Bayoneto witnessed the incident and said he was about 50 feet away when he saw one of two men on a motorcycle get into the front passenger seat of Go’s van.

"The gunman fired at Go twice, then ran to an Enduro-type motorcycle driven by another suspect, and they sped towards the corner of Vito Cruz and Harrison," he said.

Bayoneto told radio station dzBB that he "heard three gunshots."

He described the gunman as about 5’4" tall and wearing a black jacket and the gunman’s companion as wearing a white t-shirt.

A woman vendor told investigators that the gunman even bought a cigarette from her while apparently waiting for Go.

There were bullet holes on the driver’s and front passenger’s windows of Go’s vehicle. Police recovered two empty bullet shells from the scene. They said the shells came from either a 9-mm. or a caliber .380 gun.

Radio reports quoting witnesses said Go was seen being rushed to the hospital with a bloodied face.

He was immediately taken to nearby Ospital ng Maynila, where he underwent surgery. Doctors said he suffered a single gunshot wound in the right cheek.

"Possibly, two bullets had a single entry point on the right cheek but there were two exit points in the left cheek," said Christia Padulina, director of the Ospital ng Maynila.

She added that they performed a tracheotomy — an incision through the neck into the trachea to assist breathing — on Go to make sure his respiration is stable.

Go "is safe and stable as of now after three hours of surgery," Padulina said, though she added that he would have to undergo at least four hours of having doctors check his bones, which might have been damaged by the bullets.

Ellen Estacio, admitting officer of the Ospital ng Maynila’s emergency room, said Go was in a wheelchair when he was ushered to the emergency room and appeared to be in stable condition.

Doctors advised him not to talk since opening his mouth caused blood to ooze from the wounds on his cheeks.

At 8:45 a.m., Go was brought inside the operating room where he underwent emergency surgery, performed by Dr. Rey Joson, chairman of the hospital’s department of surgery.

He is now recuperating from his wounds under heavy guard by police.

WPD Station 9 chief Superintendent Bernardo Diaz said they are looking deeper into the case and considering all factors that could have triggered the attack.

Police said they have no suspects and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Azul said Go’s relatives refused to talk to the police. PATAFA employees said they are not aware of any enemy their boss may have had. They added that Go is a good provider and is friendly to everybody.

Alleged drug links?

Go was earlier linked to a convicted drug pusher and figured in publicized feuds with other sports officials, according to The Associated Press.

Ex-policeman Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Jaylo, Go’s colleague in the Philippine Olympic Committee, said Go is not involved in the illegal drug trade.

"If that’s what the media reports say, then they should present evidence linking Go Teng Kok to drugs. I know for a fact that he is not involved with illegal drugs," Jaylo told The STAR.

He added that if Go "were associated with the illegal drug trade, he would not have associated himself with me. He knows I am against illegal drugs."

Jaylo said Go admitted to him that he knew convicted drug queen Yu Yuk Lai but "they were not close."

He surmised that Go was attacked because of his other business interests.

Go’s assailants, according to Jaylo, are not professional hit men.

"Drug lords hire professional hit men. They would make sure the target is killed," he said.

A close family friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Go’s family refused to comment on the motives behind the attempt on Go’s life.

"There were no death threats. It was totally unexpected," he said.

The friend said that Go followed his usual routine of leaving his residence at Teacher’s Village in Quezon City at around 7 a.m., and has had no bodyguards for almost a year now.

Go’s family, he said, knows that he has no enemies, and he comes home immediately after work.

As for Go’s alleged drug links, he said the family does not consider it as a factor in the attempt on his life.

"Sobrang tagal na niyan, tapos na iyan (that’s an old issue)," the family friend said.

Bunye, for his part, refused to comment on Go’s alleged links to a drug lord and his alleged use of PATAFA as a front to launder his take of drug money.

"This is something which should be handled by the PNP and we do not want to muddle the issue. Let the investigators do their jobs first," he said.

Bunye said the Palace is aware of allegations that talked of Go’s supposed links to illegal drugs.

"There have been talks but these are just talks. We’ll let the investigators do their job," he said.

However, Philippine National Police Deputy Director General Edgardo Aglipay, newly designated chief of the PNP’s special task force on illegal drugs, said he wants to determine whether the attempt on Go’s life had something to do with his link with the convicted drug queen.

Yu is now detained at the headquarters of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) at Camp Crame.

"(We will investigate everyone we suspect has a connection to drugs. We might start to discover something big)," Aglipay told reporters.

He said the PNP will conduct a "backtracking" of cases related to drugs to reassess the information the police have on suspected drug pushers in the country.

Aglipay said his office has started coordinating with officials from the Chinese embassy for the list of suspected drug lords or Triad members operating in the country.

Meanwhile, former anti-narcotics agent Mary "Rosebud" Ong suspects that the ambush try on Go could be related to some illegal operations in Chinatown.

Ong said in a text message that Go is involved in the facilitation of papers of illegal aliens entering the country from the People’s Republic of China. — With reports from Marichu Villanueva, Non Alquitran, Nestor Etolle, Nikko Dizon, Christina Mendez, Aurea Calica, AP, AFP