SITG FORMED ON ESPINO AMBUSH

SAN CARLOS CITY—A Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) was formed by the police to probe the attempt on the life of former Congressman Amado Espino Jr. by more than 10 gunmen armed with high-powered weapons at 4:20 p.m. on September 11 along the San Carlos City-Basista Road in Barangay Magtaking here.

The formation of SITG Espino Jr. led by P/col. Rederico Maranan, on orders of P/Brigadier General Joel Orduna, came a few hours after the ambuscade on Espino’s convoy of two vehicles while proceeding towards San Carlos City proper from his hometown of Bautista.

Espino survived the incident with a bullet wound on the right side of his body and a bullet grazed his right hand. He is now out of danger.

Maranan said several persons of interest in connection with the ambuscade have been identified but he declined to identify them. 

Espino was with his driver and security aide on board a Toyota Land Cruiser while his back-up security aides were in a black Toyota Innova traveling to west direction heading for Barangay Ilang when the suspects, armed with long firearms on board separate vehicles, a red Hyundai hatchback and a metallic blue Ford Everest fired at them.

The fatalities were P/Staff Sergeant Richard Esguerra, who was in the back-up vehicle, died on the spot with multiple bullet wounds in the head and body, Agapito Cuison, the driver, who drove the Toyota Land Cruiser, died few hours after being operated on. 

Wounded were Kervin Marfori, a private nurse who was in the back up vehicle, and Jayson Masisi, a private bodyguard, who was caught in the CCTV camera helping the wounded Espino walked to the hospital 20 meters away with an automatic weapon in one hand, took a bullet in his foot.

The other wounded men were brought by the San Carlos City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council ambulance to the same hospital.

P/Colonel Redrico Maranan, police provincial director, told newsmen in a press conference at noon of September 12 at the San Carlos City Police Station that they found 169 spent shells of Armalite rifle and Caliber 7642 from the crime scene.

Maranan said the gunmen, as narrated by witnesses, waited for the convoy and emerged from their hiding with automatic weapons in their hands soon as the convoy appeared on sight.

He said the suspects, some wearing face masks while others didn’t, fired at the vehicles as they were moving along the road in Barangay Magtaking.

“We’ve done dragnet operations, backtracking of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) and we have a team solely dedicated in CCTV footages. We are on the process of taking composite sketch based from the statement of eye witnesses,” Maranan said.

Espino told Maranan in his hospital bed the next day that the gunmen opened fire on the their vehicles as they were passing by and continued to shoot after they passed the area.

Esguerra in the back-up vehicle was the worst hit when the driver, Antonio Columbino, a retired police sergeant, pulled over and ran out as the gun men started firing.

Columbino, who was unscathed, then went to their home and later left for his province to hide.

His whereabouts was later traced through his brother who is a policeman and was fetched for investigation and possibly identify some of the ambushers.

Maranan said because the San Carlos Police acted swiftly, all the possible escape routes of the suspects were immediately sealed, forcing them to abandon their get-away vehicle, a Hyundai Elentra colored red, in Barangay Cobol here.

The police recovered two Baby Armalites, one standard Armalite, one short and one long magazines  and 34 live ammunition from the Hyundai Elentra.

Recovered from the blue Ford Everest abandoned in Barangay Pasima, Malasiqui were one grenade, two M14 rifles, four magazine assembly for M14 rifle, one M16 rifle Hydramatic, one Baby Armalite and three assembly magazines for M16 rifles.

A third car, a black Toyota Wigo, is yet to be recovered.

There were more than 10 gunmen who opened fire with automatic weapons on the two vehicles, Maranan said.

The plate numbers as well as the conduction stickers of the get-away vehicles are being verified with the Land Transportation Office as well as the Highway Patrol Group in Manila.

Meanwhile, the trajectory of the bullets on Espino’s vehicles is now being investigated by the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), which is also examining the firearms as well as the ammunition recovered to find out if these were used previously in another crimes.

At presstime, it could not yet be ascertained if Espino’s security men were able to fire back at the ambushers.

He said the way the ambuscade was executed and the type of firearms and the get-away vehicles used, the perpetrators were professional hired guns “who knew their business”.

He admitted that two weeks before the incident, former Congressman Espino wrote him a note informing him that he was receiving death threats.

“This was the reason that I assigned him two policemen as his bodyguards”, he added.
As to the motive of the ambuscade, Maranan said the evidences gathered and yet to be gathered will be pieced together and could possibly tell what exactly is the motive.

Meanwhile, the Espino family issued a statement written entirely in Filipino expressing their sadness and strong condemnation in the attempt to kill the former governor and congressman of Pangasinan fifth district.

“While he is now safe and in good condition, we condole with the family of Police Staff Sergeant Richard Esguerra who was killed in the said incident,” the statement said. (Leonardo Micua/Nora Dominguez/Helen Martin/Philstar Wire Service)

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