BACOLOD City – A self-confessed drug ring bagman was shot to death in Barangay Pahanocoy.
Ricky Serenio, who claimed to be the
paymaster of the Berya drug group, was peppered with bullets by
motorcycle-riding assailants while driving a Mitsubishi Mirage around 3:30 p.m.
on Aug. 31, police said.
Serenio, who was with a male companion, had just left a residential subdivision
in the neighboring Barangay Tangub when three suspects fired at him.
Serenio was able to drive his car away for several meters from the gunmen but crashed against a truck, which also hit a passenger jeepney, and a motorcycle. The incident caused a traffic jam along Araneta Street.
Serenio was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician at the Bacolod South General Hospital. He succumbed to gunshot wounds on the head, abdomen and upper back.
Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Pico, spokesperson of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said investigators have yet to receive a comprehensive report on the incident.
He added that cops of Police Station 8 were able to identify two persons of interest. They were 30-year-old Allan Bustamante of Mabuhay 2, Toboso, Negros Occidental and 30-year-old Joemar Dumip-ig of Purok Boulevard, Barangay 14 here.
Pico said Bustamante and Dumip-ig – who were brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital due to gunshot wounds on the leg – were apprehended by the BCPO patrollers.
Following the incident, Serenio’s younger brother Mark John, tagged the suspects, too, the killing of their other sibling Wilmar and their father, Wilfredo in 2017.
Serenio’s other sibling, Biboy, meanwhile appealed on those responsible for the attacks on their family to stop chasing them down.
Last year, Serenio linked several high-ranking police officers of Negros Occidental and politicians in Western Visayas to the illegal drug trade.
Although considered a top drug personality in Negros, Serenio was not formally charged for any drug-related offense.
Instead, he was out on bail for illegal possession of explosives, grave coercion charges, and illegal possession of firearms./PN
