CEBU CITY — A barangay councilor and three inmates of the Talisay City Jail were killed on Friday in two separate ambush incidents in Talisay City.
Barangay Lagtang councilor Art Stephen Bas, 23, was ambushed by two gunmen while driving along the Cebu South Coastal Road around 8 a.m., while the three inmates were sprayed with bullets barely an hour later on board a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) vehicle in Barangay Linao on their way to a court hearing.
Acting Talisay City Police chief Supt. Marlu Conag said initial investigation showed that Bas, a graduating Mechanical Engineering student, was on his way to the Cebu Institute of Technology-University when two motorcycle-riding men appeared on both sides of his white Ford Everest and shot him several times.
At least 15 empty shells of a .45-caliber pistol were recovered from the scene.
Bas is the grandson of Talisay City Councilor Arturo Bas and the son of former Lagtang Barangay Captain Mark Ferdinand Bas, who is on the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s list of narco-politicians in Central Visayas.
Meanwhile, the three inmates — Yayam Gaviola, 40; Marvin Abelgas, 27; and Jovencio Rabadon, 36, were killed by allegedly 14 riding-in-tandem assailants in front of their BJMP escorts, who were spared by the attackers.
Conag said one of the suspects’ motorbikes rammed the BJMP van and made it appear like it was an accident.
When the BJMP escorts got off the vehicle, they were reportedly disarmed and were told “dako ni sila’g utang namo (they owe us bigtime)” before the suspects shot the three inmates.
Scene of the Crime Operation personnel recovered several empty shells and slugs of .9mm and .45-caliber firearms.
Conag said Gaviola and Abelgas were jailed for drug cases, while Rabadon was charged with frustrated murder.
Visitation at the Talisay City Jail was temporarily suspended after the ambush. (Luel Galarpe/PNA)
