BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
ILOILO – The Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) is focusing on two unsolved crimes here.
Supt. Peter Naboye, CIDU regional director, said he would review the assassination of restaurant owner Jimmy Punsalan who was shot dead on August 7, 2013 and former Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) intelligence officer, Supt. Musa Amiyong who was killed on November 28, 2013.
Naboye was reminded by CIDU national chief, Gen. Benjamin Magalang who recently visited Region 6, to concentrate on the Amiyong and Punsalan cases.
Naboye said he would coordinate with the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) personnel keeping the crime records and information on the death of Amiyong and Punsalan.
“We have no updates on the cases of the two victims. But we intend to meet with the police personnel of the ICPO so we can start our investigation,” Naboye told Panay News.
Punsalan, 61 of Brgy. Cubay, Jaro district was gunned down inside his restaurant in Brgy. Bolilao, Mandurriao district.
He was watching television around 9 p.m. when two armed men barged inside the restaurant and suddenly peppered him with bullets.
He sustained gunshot wounds in the head, causing his immediate death, while the suspects fled on board a Toyota Fortuner without a plate number.
ICPO director, Senior Supt. Ruperto Floro formed a special task force to investigate the killing but nothing came out of its probe. No suspects have been identified, or any motive ascertained.
Floro had said all angles would be explored – business, illegal gambling and personal grudges, among others.
Aside from a restaurant, Punzalan also owned a construction business and had contracted some government projects.
He was the president of the Philippine Constable Association – Iloilo Inc., an organization of former members of the Philippine Constabulary, forerunner of the Philippine National Police.
Three months after Punsalan was killed, Amiyong, 58, was shot by motorcycle-riding killers in Lapuz district.
He was on his way home on his motorcycle when shot several times around 8 p.m.; he had just visited a woman friend.
Amiyong died six days after he was shot on Quirino Lopez Bridge.
A Panay News source linked the former intelligence chief of the city police to the illegal drug trade.
He may have adversely affected the business of a big-time drug pusher operating in the City Proper, said the source.
Police said a .45 pistol was used to shoot Amiyong. No suspect has so far been identified.
The source also said Amiyong ventured into a shadowy financial business venture promising handsome returns to mostly local Muslim traders in La Paz district./PN
