Boy, 14, shot dead in Taguig

MANILA, Philippines — A 14-year-old boy who was addicted to marijuana was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants in Barangay Calzada Tipas, Taguig City Friday night.

Mark Lorenz Salonga, a resident of nearby Palingon Tipas, was walking along Narra street with his friend when the assailants shot him twice in the head at past 10 p.m., witnesses said.

The witnesses, who requested anonymity, said they heard two gunshots and saw Salonga lying on the pavement and the assailants, clad in black jackets, hurrying away.

Recovered from the crime scene were two empty shells of an unidentified firearm.

Salonga’s mother Myra said her son, whom she said was sweet and thoughtful, wanted to become a teacher. She said she was working at a restaurant when he was attacked.

Asked about possible motives for her son’s killing, Myra said she does not know. She admitted that he was put in a rehabilitation center at Camp Bagong Diwa for marijuana addiction when he was nine years old and had resumed his drug habit.

“Wala naman po siyang kaaway. Alam ko po nagdadamo siya, pero hindi ko po alam kung anong related niya sa mga sinasabi nila (He had no enemies. I know he had been using marijuana, but I don’t know how he is related to what they have been talking about),” she said, referring to the government’s war on illegal drugs.

The Southern Police District is conducting an investigation to determine the motive for the killing and the identities of the assailants. The shooting was recorded by the barangay’s closed-circuit television camera.

Police are also trying to determine if Salonga had been in the barangay’s drug watchlist.