Elderly man guns down two relatives

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

A 63-year-old man allegedly killed his two relatives in a gun attack afternoon of June 25 at Lambunao, Iloilo.

The suspect, Gil Casiple, was arrested at his place in Barangay Poblacion Ilaya, Lambunao after the incident.

Casiple told responding police officers that he had no plan of fleeing after he shot Ramil Opiane, 51, and, Joven Besite, 41, both residents of Poblacion Ilaya.

Opiane is Casiple’s distant relative while Besite’s mother and the suspect are second cousins.

According to reports, Casiple was drinking liquor at a nearby store prior to the incident. The store owner joined him in the spree.

Shortly later, the two victims arrived and also drank liquor at a different table.

It didn’t take long before Besite approached Casiple and confronted him.

Major Jogen Suegay, Lambunao police chief, said Besite asked why the suspect built a nipa hut (where Casiple was arrested) on their family’s land.

Since both men were already drunk, the confrontation led to a heated argument.

Besite eventually grabbed the suspect by the collar.

But Casiple was quick to pull a firearm tucked in his waist and shot Besite and Opiane in their body and chest.

Members of the Lambunao Municipal Emergency Response Team brought the two victims to Dr. Ricardo y Ladrido Memorial Hospital but they were declared dead on arrival.

The suspect just went inside his nipa hut and waited for the policemen to arrest him.

He yielded a caliber .45 Colt MK IV pistol (serial number 641974).

Suegay said the knives were also taken from the two victims.

Casiple is now detained pending the filing of murder charges against him.