IPPO sees no gun-for-hire group in Iloilo

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The Iloilo Police Provincial Office has not monitored the existence of any criminal group or gang specializing in gun-for-hire activities.

But this should not be misconstrued to mean there are no hired killers in the province.

“By incident and during our investigation, there are cases perpetrated by gun-for-hire suspects. Pero hindi sila. They’re acting individually,” Iloilo police chief Col. Bayani Razalan said.

Razalan made the statement when asked about the March 23 shooting incident that killed a woman and injured two other persons.

Police filed charges for murder and frustrated murder, and possibly frustrated homicide, against the gunman and two John Does.

Reports indicated that the suspects were allegedly gun-for-hire individuals.

But Razalan did not confirm if the Dueñas incident was one of the murder cases perpetrated by hired killers.

He confirmed, however, that some individuals involved in gun-for-hire killings are from neighboring provinces.

Police generally classify gun-for-hire cases as targeted attacks carried out by individuals or groups paid to kill or injure a person, but Razalan said the IPPO has not found evidence of an organized gun-for-hire group operating in Iloilo province.