Pubdate: Wed, 03 Aug 2005
Source: Freeman, The (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005 The Freeman
Contact:  http://www.thefreeman.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3437
Author: Flor Z. Perolino and Fred P. Languido
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Summary+Execution
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Philippines

VIGILANTE-TYPE KILLINGS SCARE PROVINCE; GUV ORDERS PROBE

Two men were killed in vigilante fashion in barangay Luray I, Toledo
City Monday night, raising speculations that vigilantes operating in
Cebu City have reached to other areas in the province.

Jaime Richard Lasaga, 24, and Novelito Tarungoy, 22, both residents of
the barangay, were fired upon by two motorcycle-riding men while
sitting on a bench. Lasaga sustained three gunshot wounds in different
parts of his body while Tarungoy suffered a gunshot in the chest. The
two were killed instantly.

Newly assigned Toledo City police chief, P/Supt Leodegario Acebedo,
yesterday said that he was told that Lasaga was a former bigtime drug
pusher in the city while Tarungoy was also a drug peddler.

Acebedo said they are eyeing two angles as motives behind the
killings. One was the information they received that Lasaga ran off
with P300,000 during a derby in one of the southern towns in the
province last month, and the other had something to do with drug dealing.

Last Saturday evening, suspected vigilantes gunned down a man in
barangay Poblacion, Carcar town. Eugenio Abella Jr., 34, was standing
at the roadside when he was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding men.

The perpetrators wore bonnets and used a .45 caliber pistol in killing
Abella.

Alarmed by the vigilante-style executions in the province, Governor
Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday ordered Cebu Provincial Police Office chief
Drusilio Bolodo to look into the killings in Carcar and Toledo City.

Garcia said that the Toledo City incident, in which two alleged drug
pushers were summarily executed, has raised concern for the public to
be vigilant.

The governor ordered Bolodo to submit a report on the incident so
proper measures can be taken to prevent the vigilante-type killings to
further escalate. 
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