THE driver of the getaway vehicle used by a barangay official in Talisay City surrendered to police last Wednesday night.
Adhmann Vigue Canangca-an showed up at the city police station because he wants to clear his name.
He is the cousin of Maghaway Councilman Felix Abacajan Jr. and his brother Joeser.
The Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) were after them because they allegedly kept unlicensed firearms.
The two were subjects of a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 18 Judge Gilbert Moises.
Canangca-an said he did not participate in the shootout, which resulted in the deaths of Joeser and Julian Bonghanoy Jr.
“Basta wala gyod koy apil ana. Wa koy gibuhat nga dautan. (I was not involved in the shootout. I did not do anything wrong),” he told reporters.
Despite his claim, PIB Chief Supt. Germano Mallari said they will file an attempted murder complaint against Canangca-an.
Canangca-an said Felix went to his house in Barangay Lawaan around midnight last Wednesday, two hours before PIB operatives raided the councilor’s residence.
When Felix received a call about the presence of armed men in his house in Maghaway, he asked Felix to drive him home, Canangca-an said.
When they got there, he said Felix disembarked while he stayed inside the vehicle.
Canangca-an, a jeepney operator, said he saw a bloodied Felix running toward him.
He said he brought Felix to Barangay Linao, but then he and his wife proceeded to Barili town to buy door jambs for their new house.
Police recovered a bullet-proof vest, a gun box, and two cotton swabs inside the Nissan Navara Canangca-an had driven.
Paraffin test
Mallari said Canangca-an will also be subjected to a paraffin test to find out whether he fired a gun.
The police official said they will check hospitals because there is possibility that Felix sought treatment for the gunshot wound in his shoulder.
The intelligence unit of the Cebu Provincial Police Office are validating reports that Felix and his group are connected with suspected drug lord Franz Sabalones, who had surrendered to Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa.
Felix, his brother and Bonghanoy allegedly worked as Sabalones’s hitmen.
Mallari said they also received information that bodies of the group’s victims are buried in Felix’s farm in Talisay City.
Last August, Felix and his group brandished their high-powered firearms and conducted checkpoints in Talisay City, flagging motorists to look for the man who attempted to kill him.
During Wednesday’s operation, Mallari said they sought reinforcements from the city police, Special Weapons and Tactics and the Regional Special Operations Group when the suspects resisted arrest.
Seized from Felix’s residence were a KG9 machine pistol, three .45 pistols, two shotguns, an M16A1 rifle, two magnum rifles, two rifle grenades, a 40 mm grenade launcher canister, and several bullets.
No support
Meanwhile, Talisay City police believe Felix will surrender soon because of his gunshot wound.
Supt. Aileen Recla, acting city police chief, said they received reports that Felix was in a safe house in Barangay Mohon but left it at dawn yesterday.
Recla said Felix is a level 1 drug pusher, who is considered a high-profile target in the city.
Felix was reportedly involved in the selling of illegal drugs in Maghaway when he, his brother and four cohorts were subjected to Oplan Tokhang.
But even though they surrendered to police, Felix and his group returned to the illegal drugs trade. They were also guns-for-hire.
Mayor Eduardo Gullas urged police to find Felix and bring the latter to justice.
“I won’t intervene. I will leave everything to the police,” Gullas added.
