ILOILO City – A masked assassin has apparently beaten the coronavirus to the draw in the killing of a barangay tanod manning a quarantine control point in Barangay Gustilo, La Paz district.
The gunman shot multiple times 23-year-old Jarel Pestaño past midnight on March 31.
Pestaño, also a drug surrenderer, died at the West Visayas State University Medical Center where he was taken.
The village watchman was attacked just hours after beginning his duty at the quarantine control point set up as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in this city.
The shooting happened at around 12:30 a.m.
The gunman walked away casually after shooting Pestaño seven times, according to Police Major Edsel Balibadlan, La Paz police chief.
“We don’t know if a getaway vehicle was waiting for him,” said Balibadlan.
A nearby security camera was able to record the shooting but it was blurry, he revealed, thus not much help to the police in identifying the gunman.
From what the La Paz police gathered, Pestaño was previously arrested for illegal drugs and subsequently charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
For two years while is case was being heard Pestaño was detained at the Iloilo City District Jail in Barangay Ungka, Jaro district until he entered into a plea bargaining agreement.
After he was released, Pestaño completed his six months of drug rehabilitation then became a barangay tanod.
“We are considering the shooting to be drug-related. But it could also be due to old grudges,” said Balibadlan.
As of this writing, the gun used to kill Pestaño was still to be determined.
“We are calling on people living near the crime scene to help us identify the gunman to solve this incident. We assure them of the secrecy of their identities,” said Balibadlan./PN
