GUNMAN IN DPWH OFFICIAL’S AMBUSH. A screenshot of the gunman in the Pasay City ambush of a ranking DPWH-NCR official and her driver. A P200,000 reward was offered for any information that would lead to the capture of the assassin, said SPD director Brigadier General Kirby John B. Kraft.
PNP offers P200K for DPWH exec’s killer
PHILIPPINE National Police chief General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. yesterday appealed to the public to provide them information that would lead to the capture of the gunmen who shot and seriously wounded a ranking Department of Public Works and Highways official and her driver in Pasay City last June 5.
“We want the support of the public in getting the suspects. It will really mean a lot for us, especially for our investigators. Malaking tulong ang impormasyon ninyo sa amin, please help us,” he said in referring to any information that citizens may give to the Southern Police District to arrest the assassins who attacked Attorney Maria Rocelle Melliza, the chief of Rights of Ways Acquisition and Legal Division of the DPWH-National Capital Region.
Gen. Acorda and SPD director Brigadier Gen. Kirby John B. Kraft released a video-grab photo of one of the gunmen who fired at Atty. Melliza’s vehicle without any provocation around shortly before 8 a.m. last June 5.
The ambush took place on Fortuna Street in Barangay 121, Pasay City where the motorcycle-riding gunmen were seen on video parked their vehicle in the area and waited for some 25 minutes before firing at the victims who were on board a DPWH vehicle shortly after they spotted the car driving thru a road hump.
Brig. Gen. Kraft said that the victims were heading to the DPWH main office in Intramuros, Manila when they were shot. The DPWH official suffered a gunshot wound in the head and shoulder while her driver sustained a bullet wound in the body.
The SPD director said the Pasay City Police Station headed by Colonel Froilan Uy are looking into the possibility that the attack on Atty. Melliza’s life is ‘work-related’ although he did not elaborate.
He said that a P200,000 cash reward has been raised by a number of SPD stakeholders for any information that would lead to the identification and arrest of the gunmen.
Information may be relayed through the SPD hotline 0998-5987920 or the Pasay City Police Station hotline 0998-5987922 with Kraft assuring the public that the identity of the informant will be kept in utmost secrecy.
Brig. Gen. Kraft said CCTV footage at the area retrieved by Pasay City police investigators showed that the gunmen threw leaflets saying that the DPWH official was targeted due to her ‘sins against the people.’ The word ‘Partiano (Armadong Operatiba ng Partido Marxista-Leninista ng Pilipinas’ was also written in the paper.
However, the SPD official said that it merely appeared to be a diversionary tactic and it was apparent that the suspects merely copied the style of New People’s Army urban assassins to mislead the investigation.
