Police to summon Pearl Plaza security guards

Police would invite for questioning security guards of the Pearl Plaza and the bodyguards of building owner Leonardo Umale to shed light on his ambush-slay last Mar. 16 at the Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol said it was surprising how four men managed to sneaked handguns into the Pearl Plaza, considering most commercial centers inspect bags and frisk visitors at the entrance.

The suspects ate breakfast at a restaurant on the second floor of the eight-storey building before two of them shot the 58-year-old Umale just as he stepped out of his bulletproof Mercedes Benz with his daughter Tintin.

"Dapat mahigpit ang pagsita sa mga tao," Querol stressed. "The big question is, why did the guards fail to intercept the firearms?"

He noted that the gunmen were bold enough to attack the businessman at his own building.

"It appears they wanted to make a statement," he said.

Witnesses had described the suspects as construction workers. The gunmen casually walked away from the scene after pumping bullets into Umale.

Querol said they also want to know how the security guards and Umale’s bodyguards reacted to the ambush.

He directed Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Superintendent Charlemagne Alejandrino, who is also the concurrent Task Force Umale chief, to get the statements of security personnel.

"Ang alam ko maraming security doon sa building at may bodyguard din si Umale subalit nalusutan pa rin," Alejandrino said.

The EPD chief said the Umale family has yet to give their statements to police investigators.

He dispatched Senior Superintendent Romeo Abaring, Pasig City police officer-in-charge and his investigators to Umale’s residence at Valle Verde to get the family’s official statement.

"Ayaw nilang magpunta sa pulis, so kami na ang pupunta sa kanila," said Alejandrino.

Umale’s electrician, Ernesto Lanton, died last Sunday at the Medical City Hospital. Lanton rushed to aid the fallen Umale when one of the suspects opened fire at close range.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Querol’s intelligence chief, said they would work harder because the case is now a double murder.