Manila cop linked to drugs slain

MANILA, Philippines - A policeman with suspected links to the illegal drug trade was killed in an ambush in Manila yesterday morning.

Police Officer 2 Mark Anthony Peñano, 34, was bringing his daughter Mica to Emilio Aguinaldo College, where she is studying, when several men on motorcycles attacked him along Ayala Boulevard at around 7 a.m.

There were at least six assailants on three motorcycles who followed Peñano from Taft Avenue, presumably from his home in Tondo, said Senior Police Officer 2 Donald Panaligan.  

Though wounded, Peñano stood up and tried to run. One of the assailants followed him and shot him repeatedly.

A witness said the police officers “held his hands up high, as if begging for his life.”

The assailants escaped toward Ayala Bridge while Peñano was declared dead on arrival at the Mary Chiles Hospital.

Mayor Joseph Estrada ordered the city police to investigate Peñano’s murder, stressing that he does not condone the extrajudicial killing of law enforcers involved in the illegal drug trade and other criminal activities.

“Whatever the motives and circumstances, we owe it to the policeman’s family to investigate the case,” he said.

32 gunshot wounds

Manila Police District (MPD) homicide chief Senior Superintendent Rommel Anicete said Peñano sustained 32 gunshot wounds, “but we are still trying to determine whether those were entry or exits wounds.”

He said probers recovered 25 bullet casings from .45 caliber and 9mm pistols from the scene.

Mica told reporters the assailants were precise and had no intention to hurt her.

Most of Peñano’s bullet wounds were in the head and face, “indicating that the gunman was a good shooter,” said MPD public information officer Superintendent Erwin Margarejo.

A Technological University of the Philippines student, identified only as Alvin, was hit in the leg by a stray bullet. 

Margarejo did not answer when asked if the shooting was the handiwork of vigilantes or police officers reportedly tasked to clean the ranks of the Philippine National Police.

‘Bad egg’

MPD director Chief Superintendent Napoleon Joel Coronel described Peñano as a “bad egg” and a prime suspect in the killing of Police Officer 1 Jorsan Marie Alafriz, who was an anti-drug advocate, in front of a shopping mall in Quiapo last March 19.

Two days later, two brothers tagged as “persons of interest” were ambushed in Sta. Cruz minutes after they reported to the MPD headquarters to deny reports they were involved in Alafriz’s murder.

Peñano was “listed as a high-value target in Manila. An investigation is still ongoing,” Coronel said.

He was last assigned to the MPD headquarters support unit after being relieved from his post at the Alvarez police community precinct.

Peñano’s widow said her husband had nothing to do with Alafriz’s killing “because we were at a hotel” at the time. 

A source told The STAR that Peñano was told to report to the MPD headquarters yesterday. – With Jose Rodel Clapano