The Quezon City police on Sunday said the shooting incident of a photojournalist last week was not work-related. “For now, I can really say this is not an attack on journalists,” QCPD District Director Nicolas Torre III said in a television interview.
“We already know where they started to be picked up by the surveillance, where the gunman started to position himself, what time, and even their escape route,” he added.
The police said Rene Joshua Abiad, 37, a photojournalist of Remate, is currently recuperating, while two children who were inside the vehicle are still in the intensive care unit.
Abiad was with members of his family on board their silver Ford Everest along Corumi and Gazan streets in Barangay Masambong when a silver Toyota Vios blocked their path as they were about to enter their residence at 3:50 p.m. Thursday last week.
A man wearing a black jacket then got off the Vios and started firing shots, while another man fired from beside the suspect car before they fled toward Del Monte Avenue. A motorcycle rider was also seen serving as a lookout, authorities said.
The Abiad brothers and the minors sustained bullet wounds on different parts of their bodies along with Jeffrey Cao, 47, who was in the area during the incident.
The Abiad family appealed to the Philippine National Police for a speedy investigation.