“Whoever ordered the killing of Eastview Hotel owner Johnny Chua may also be involved in the assassination of his gunman Pic Raymond Longno”

That was what Bacolod Police Director Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz said yesterday as the investigation on the successive shooting incidents in the city over the weekend continues.

It is possible that the principal suspect, who may have financed and ordered the killing of Chua, is also behind the fatal shooting of Longno to silence him, and he could have been killed by his own colleagues, de la Paz said.

The Bacolod City Police are still verifying the report that policemen are behind the death of Longno because of reports that the two bonnet-wearing suspects who shot him rode a silver Honda City with a PNP 111 commemorative car plate attached to it, he added.

De la Paz, meanwhile, said they have not received any report that Longno was killed by four armed men, one a former policeman, and the other an inactive marine officer, and that the mastermind behind his death is a gambling lord in Bacolod.

De la Paz appealed to the driver of the motorcycle used by Longno as get-away vehicle after shooting Chua on Saturday to show up saying that his life is also at risk because he might be the next target after the killing of Longno.

SECURITY

The Bacolod City Police is providing additional security to the family of Chua, who had earlier expressed fear for their safety, de la Paz said.

The family is also cooperative and is giving details that will help in the ongoing investigation. The police is now reviewing the text messages and calls to and from the cellular phone of Chua as he may have been receiving death threats before he was killed.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Vice Jude Thaddeus Sayson, meanwhile, said the killings of Chua and Longno are isolated cases.

They however, appealed to the police to swiftly resolve the case, saying that its early resolution will restore the image of Bacolod City as the most livable city, and at the same time, uplift the image of the local police, that was recently hailed as the best in Region 6.

GUNS-FOR-HIRE

De la Paz, meanwhile also said that their intelligence reports show that there is a group of gun-for-hire men in Bacolod City and they are under close surveillance.

He said they have the names of the members of this group but could not give further details in order not to hamper their monitoring.

Chua, 63, of Capitolville Subdivision, was shot in his armpit by Longno at JV-Burgos street in Bacolod City, while he was on board their his black Isuzu Alterra vehicle, driven by his son, Brent Andrew, 24, Saturday.

Longno, 37, of Malaspina Street, Brgy. Villamonte was however gunned down by two armed men the following day while he was walking near his house.*APN

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