“Get the culprits.”
Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada relayed this instruction to the Manila Police District in response to the Wednesday killing of a barangay chairman in Tondo, the fifth barangay chief to be murdered in the city since January.
Estrada also expressed his condolences to the family of Arnel Parce, 47, whom he described as a “very competent” chairman of Barangay 20, Zone 2.
“Get the culprits as soon as possible,” the mayor told MPD director Chief Supt. Joel Coronel.
In an interview at the City Hall, Estrada said he personally knows Parce.
“He’s very qualified. He’s very industrious and down to earth. The barangay chairman was very competent,” he said.
Whenever there was a fire in his community, Parce, Estrada said, would always seek his help to assist the displaced families, asking for construction materials that the fire victims could use to rebuild their houses.
“He always had his heart for his constituents,” Estrada added.
Parce was shot dead Wednesday night while talking with three men along San Roque Street. A closed-circuit television camera captured the moment when a motorcycle drove up as the back rider alighted and fired at him.
When Parce fell to the ground, a speech-impaired barangay employee identified as Christopher Balotinos, rushed at the attacker and grappled with him for the gun as the other witnesses fled.
The gunman, however, still managed to escape. Balotinos was brought to a hospital for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
Village watchman Danny Bohol told police Parce had been receiving death threats because of his stern anti-drug campaign.
In an interview, Supt. Santiago Pascual, chief of the MPD Station 2, said they have recovered from the crime scene a .45 caliber “Shooters” pistol.
“We turned over the gun to the Homicide Section of the MPD. They would turn this over for ballistics tests and check if the serial numbers could still be seen on the firearm. Once the serial numbers are traced, hopefully we would be able to trace the owner of the gun,” he said.
Coronel had ordered his men to “focus” on the case and find the killers of Parce as instructed by Estrada.
“Focus on the case and conduct immediate follow-up operations,” Coronel said.
The other barangay chairmen killed by still unknown assailants were Tito Caldoza, Jr. of Barangay 106, Zone 8, Tondo, who was shot dead just outside the barangay hall on Jan. 25; Nenita Acuna of Barangay 200, Zone 18, Tondo, killed on March 3; and Angelito Sarmiento of Barangay 751, Zone 81, who was shot dead inside his house in Malate on May 26.
Completing the list of slain chairmen is Dante Gonzalo of Barangay 670, Zone 72 in Ermita, who was killed on June 26.
Another chairman, Kristo Hispano of Barangay 649, Zone 88 in Baseco Compound, was ambushed on June 21 after attending Estrada’s awarding of outstanding barangay officials for the 446th Araw ng Maynila celebration at the Manila Hotel. He survived.
Among the slain barangay leaders, only Sarmiento was in the MPD’s drug list of barangay officials involved in drugs, according to Coronel.