Illegal drugs eyed in Bohol massacre
by Mike Ortega Ligalig
May 19, 2014
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Ubay, Bohol – Four victims of an early-morning massacre here yesterday are believed to have been liquidated due to unsettled debts owed their “master” in the illegal drug trade they are suspected to have been involved in.
The victims, which included a daughter of a retired police officer, were identified by police as Ignacio Suarez Sereno, 19; Risa Pescadero, 29; Angel Ann Polentinos, 18; and Sammy Corona, 42. They had just left a friend’s house in Barangay Humay-humay, Ubay town, 120 kilometers northeast of Bohol’s capital city of Tagbilaran, when they were gunned down by still unidentified assailants at around 4 a.m. yesterday.
A fifth person in the group, Jojo Cerelegia, also from Ubay town, cheated death after he managed to scamper away from the shooting, Ubay Police Station chief Inspector George Caña informed media.
Caña said the four victims, who died on the spot, sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Bohol PNP Director, Police Senior Supt. Dennis Palo Agustin, told local media that based on intelligence data, the four victims were alleged to have been involved in the peddling of illegal drugs but apparently wanted to quit the trade.
“Those who cannot remit the proceeds of illegal drugs are liquidated by their master,” Agustin said. “This has happened before, but this time, this is a massacre.”
Stressed the provincial PNP director, “This only shows how serious the illegal drugs problem is in Bohol.”
Cerelegia, meanwhile, in an interview over local radio station DYRD admitted that he had once been part of the illegal drug trade in Ubay.