Task group seeks answers to more  questions on Estancia shooting

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

Days into its continuous investigation, the task group tasked to probe the Sept 14, 2022 shooting incident in Estancia, Iloilo that snuffed the lives of four entrepreneurs is seeking answers to more rising questions.

What was the motive for the killings? Who could have gained from the deaths of the victim? Was there more to what the lone survivor, Jevron Parohinog, told the police?

One thing is sure, though, “we are doing everything we can to solve this incident,” according to Senior Master Sergeant Francisco Lindero Jr., Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) spokesperson.

Except for Chysler Floyd Fernandes, results of the autopsy on the bodies of Jan Paul Mark Bosque and Mark Clarenz Libao were already released.

Per request by the family, Dr. Owen Lebaquin, a retired medico-legal officer of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6, conducted the autopsy.

Lindero said Bosque and Libao both suffered three gunshot injuries.

Bosque sustained wounds on his right cheek, right side of the chest, and right suprascapular.

On the other hand, Libao had gunshot injuries on his right cheek, anterior chest, and right arm.

Lindero said Parojinog and the victims’ families have already met.

“Of course, the question that they kept on asking is why did he survive when all three were killed,” he said.

Based on Parohinog’s narrative, two male persons were responsible for shooting his three friends.

But while being a witness, Parohinog is also considered among the “persons of interest” or POI, Lindero said.

POI is a euphemism for a person considered as a suspect in a case.

The composite facial sketches of the two suspects were already made and Parohinog has identified one of them.

“But it’s too early to release the composite sketch of the two alleged suspects,” he said.

A barangay kagawad and a security guard executed their affidavits on Sept 17, narrating what they saw at the crime scene a few minutes following the shooting.

The affidavits were subscribed before the Public Attorney’s Office in Estancia.

Lindero said there are three possible motives for the crime.

“We are considering robbery, considering the alleged P7.5-million cash which was taken by the suspects as alleged by Parohinog,” he said.

There’s also hatred, citing that Parohinog said that some individuals could have harbored bad blood because they were indebted to Bosque.

“We are also considering business interest because Bosque was into several business ventures, including gambling, as alleged by Parohinog,” Lindero said.

The paraffin test conducted on Parohinog and the three fatalities yielded negative results.

By principle, however, the paraffin test is not conclusive.

Meanwhile, the dashboard camera of the victims’ Isuzu Mu-X sports utility vehicle and Bosque’s two mobile phones were submitted to the Regional Anti-Cyber Crime Unit 6 at Camp Delgado.

All legal documents necessary to give RACU the authority to open and process the instruments were already complied with.