The facial sketch of the gunman who shot and killed Police Officer 3 Rolando Malate was released by the Bacolod City Police yesterday  to ensure the swift resolution of the case.

Based on the sketch drawn by the artist of the National Bureau of Investigation, the gunman is between 30 to 35 years-old, about 5 feet and 6 inches tall, of medium build, brown in complexion and has long hair.

The suspect is also described to be of the rugged type, speaks Ilonggo fluently, and was wearing a white shirt and dark short pants when he shot Malate Thursday last week at the junction of Hernaez and Jovita Streets in front of the Tay Tung High School in Bacolod.

City Police Director, Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, said “Task Force Malate” is working on the sketch of the motorcycle used as getaway vehicle of the gunman.

De la Paz said the sketch was based on the description of one of the witnesses who saw the gunman and his companion having coffee at an eatery in front of Tay Tung High School at about 6 a.m. Monday.

He said the “Task Force Malate” is now trying to trace where the suspects went after the shooting, or if it is true that they are from Panay island.

He also said that he has assigned policemen to secure the family of Malate after they claimed that an unidentified man on a motorcycle was seen surveying their house on Friday, the day after the killing.

Emalyn Malate, wife of the policeman killed, told de la Paz that her daughter, Alexa, who witnessed the killing, is still in trauma and, in fact, trembles whenever she sees men on motorcycles.

Malate, 43, of Celine Homes Subdivision in Brgy. Estefania, Bacolod had brought his children Ramon Jr., 15, and Hannah, 14, to Tay Tung High School and was on his way to a coffee shop near the school with his younger daughter, Alexa, 10, when one of two men riding in tandem on a red Kawasaki motorcycle shot him at close range.

He sustained four gunshot wounds on his chest, two on his neck and one on his right ear, and died while being treated at the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center.*APN

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