Mystery woman in failed slay try on cop surfaces

MANILA, Philippines - A woman who was seen in the company of a controversial police official when he was ambushed in Quezon City last March 10 has surfaced, the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) said yesterday.

NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales expressed satisfaction that the woman, Glecy Perez, is cooperating fully in their investigation of the ambush try on Superintendent Napoleon Cauyan, 52.

NCRPO agents traced Perez to her house in Novaliches, Quezon City. “I don’t know why he was shot. I also have no idea if he has enemies,” Perez said.

Perez gave police investigators at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) the description of the gunman but said she failed to see the faces of the three other suspects.

In her two-page statement, Perez said a certain Jess called her attention to Cauyan, who was in a maroon Nissan Navarra parked behind the Land Transportation Office (LTO) building in Barangay Pinyahan at about 12:45 p.m. last March 10.

She said she sat in the front passenger seat of Cauyan’s car while he asked her how much he has to pay to register a vehicle that had not been registered for a long time. She gave Cauyan the breakdown of payment for the vehicle’s registration, excluding the expenses for the smoke emission test.

While they were talking, Perez said she noticed in the right rearview mirror two men, riding tandem on a motorcycle, slowly approaching their vehicle.

The motorcycle came to a sudden stop at her side and the back rider suddenly pulled out a long firearm and opened fire.

Upon seeing the gunman pointing the firearm to their direction, Perez said she lowered herself into her seat and the bullets zoomed past her and hit Cauyan.

Perez said she was about to jump out of the vehicle but Cauyan prevented her from doing so, telling her “he would drive the car to a crowded place.”

According to Perez, she went back to the LTO compound and she learned that Cauyan was brought to the Armed Forces Medical Center on board a tricycle.

Earlier, Cauyan told The STAR that his role in the dismantling of a syndicate behind the registration of stolen vehicles at the LTO and his work as a “policeman” could be the reasons behind the attempts on his life.

Perez said she had a clear view of the gunman’s face and could identify him. Rosales said a police artist would prepare a sketch of the gunman from Perez’s description.