ANOTHER MURDER

ILOILO City – A tricycle driver known to be a suspected thief was shot to death on Saturday in La Paz district. The shooter escaped with a motorcycle-driving companion.

Ely Tipanan, 38, of Barangay Baldoza, La Paz was killed a day after a businessman from Tigbauan, Iloilo was riddled with bullets by motorcycle-riding gunmen at the Iloilo Terminal Market.

Tipanan just disembarked his tricycle in Barangay Lopez Jaena Sur at around 7:30 a.m. when attacked, said Senior Inspector Val Ladublan, La Paz police chief.

At the time the shooter was already standing by, waiting for him, Ladublan said, citing investigation.

A motorcycle-driving companion picked the shooter up and they sped away after the incident, he said.

The shooter and the driver of the getaway motorcycle were both wearing helmets, police said, citing witnesses. They remained unidentified as of this writing.

The victim sustained gunshot wounds on the head and several others on the body, said the police. An autopsy has yet to be performed on his remains as of this writing.

Tipanan was a theft suspect out on bail. He was allegedly a member of an akyat-bahay group in the city, police said.

He was arrested for theft charges in 2017 – he was listed as the No. 8 most wanted person in the La Paz police station at the time – but was released after posting a bail bond, said Ladublan.

Investigators were still trying to establish the motive as of this writing.

They were looking into Tipanan’s theft charges, illegal drugs and old grudges.

But Ladublan already said they were inclined to believe that somebody had ordered to take Tipanan out.

Citing intelligence information, the La Paz police said Tipanan was also using and selling illegal drugs.

His wife Lea admitted in a radio interview that Tipanan was involved in illegal drugs but did not say how. She also said her husband faced theft charges but these have already been settled.

There was an apparent similarity between the deaths of Tipanan and the 33-year-old Ranny Bibangco of Tigbauan, Iloilo.

Bibangco was talking to a friend at a fruit stand on Rizal Street, Barangay Rizal Palapala, City Proper at around 6 a.m. on Friday when he was shot several times.

Citing statements from witnesses, Police Station 1 head Superintendent Jonathan Pablito said the shooter was near Bibangco and fled with a motorcycle-driving companion.

Bibangco was a supplier of quail eggs to market vendors in three big public markets in the city.

But unlike Tipanan, Bibangco was clean, according to the Tigbauan police. The businessman had no record at the municipal police station, Pablito had said.

The broad daylight killing led Mayor Jose Espinosa III to call for the deployment of more police officers on the streets.

The local chief executive also urged residents to cooperate with the police in maintaining peace and order.

Not all nooks and crannies of the city could be guarded by the police all the time, Espinosa stressed./PN