Assassinated Businessmen

Even without the pandemic business has alway been tough in the Philippines. Why is that? Because if you are a businessman in the Philippines any rival you have will gladly assassinate you. The problem of assassination is not limited to politicians. Let's take a look at a few recent assassinated businessmen. These  are killings which have happened since the beginning of 2023. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1197351

Two gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead a businesswoman and wounded her husband in an ambush in Barangay Fatima, Gen. Santos City early Tuesday.

In a report, Col. Jomar Alexis Yap, General Santos City police director, identified the victim as Amelia Tajala, of Barangay Fatima, Gen. Santos City.

Tajala was declared dead at the GenSan Medical Center while her husband Belgar, who was driving the Mitsubishi Montero (MFN-927), was critically injured.

The victims were heading to the city fish port area at about 4:45 a.m. where they are managing a fish and money lending business when waylaid by the gunmen, who sped off in an unknown direction.

Police found 16 empty shells for a .45-caliber pistol at the crime scene.

They said they have yet to establish the motive and identities of the perpetrators.

https://digicastnegros.com/businessman-killed-3-others-found-dead/

A businessman was killed and three others were found dead in Negros Occidental, the police reported Wednesday, March 1.

Businessman Ronnie Galve Pabilona, 47, was killed at Brgy.4 Poblacion, Himamaylan City, 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, February 28.

Pabilona was eating lunch at his store when a male person entered and ordered lunch. The person went out of the store, and returned a few minutes later and suddenly shot Pabilona on the back of his head using a .45 caliber pistol, the police said.

The victim was brought to the Governor Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial Hospital but was declared dead on arrival, the police added.

The suspect escaped.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1954495/zamboanga/local-news/businessman-killed-6-unharmed-in-drive-by-gun-attack

A BUSINESSMAN who once served as executive assistant to the late Basilan Governor Wahab Akbar was killed while his six companions were unharmed in a drive-by gun attack in this Zamboanga City, the police reported Sunday, February 26, 2023.

Police Colonel Alexander Lorenzo, Zamboanga City Police Office director, identified the fatality as Paruk Taguri Marijun, 50, a resident of Isabela City, Basilan province.

Lorenzo said the incident happened around 6:02 p.m. Saturday in Sitio Canelar Moret, Canelar village, Zamboanga City.

Investigation showed that Majirun was driving a pick-up vehicle with six passengers coming from a wedding at a local hotel when repeatedly shot by an unidentified gunman aboard a motorcycle.

Marijun, though wounded, continued driving until he accidentally crashed into a parked motorcycle and a sundry store.

Marijun was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead by the attending physician. The suspect escaped.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/04/23/businessman-shot-dead-outside-rosario-batangas-town-hall

A businessman was shot dead outside the municipal hall of Rosario, Batangas on Tuesday, local police said.

Authorities identified the victim as Anselmo Javier Jr., 44, a resident of Barangay Bayawang of the said town.

Rosario Police records show that Javier was inside his vehicle parked outside the municipal hall when he was shot several times by a yet unidentified gunman at around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Witnesses said the shooter, who was wearing a helmet and raincoat fled towards San Juan, Batangas after committing the crime. 

Javier was rushed to the Sto. Rosario Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/02/25/2247417/2-nabbed-indian-businessmans-murder

The alleged mastermind and gunman in the murder of an Indian businessman in Quezon City last Feb. 14 were arrested on Thursday.

Randy Manalo, 32, and Mark Darriel Lagarde, 21, were apprehended in separate operations, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said.

Lagarde was arrested in Barangay Pasong Putik at around 2:45 p.m. followed by Manalo in Barangay Batasan Hills at around 3:30 p.m.

The suspects were implicated in the murder of Beant Singh, 47, in Barangay Batasan Hills.

The victim was collecting payments from several people at Kagawad and San Mateo Roads when he was shot dead by an armed man at around 2:30 p.m.

Torre said police investigators tracked down Lagarde’s whereabouts based on footage from closed-circuit television cameras and the testimony of the driver of a habal-habal, a colorum motorcycle taxi, which the suspect rode to Batasan Hills.

Police seized a .380-caliber handgun and a hand grenade from Lagarde.

Under interrogation, Lagarde identified Manalo as the one who ordered him to kill Singh in exchange for P20,000.

An investigation revealed Manalo wanted Singh dead as he owes the foreigner an unspecified amount of money.

Meanwhile, two Indian traders were ambushed by motorcycle-riding assailants in Quezon City on Thursday night, which left one of them wounded.

The incident occurred in Barangay Santol at around 9:35 p.m., the QCPD Station 11 said.

Sukhwinder Singh, 32, and Sidhu Tirlochan Singh, 30, were on a motorcycle when they were attacked at the corner of Brixton Hill and Landargon streets.

The victims told probers that two men on a motorcycle, one of whom was armed with a handgun, were the suspects.

Sukhwinder was hit in his left hand and was brought to a hospital for medical treatment while Sidhu was unscathed.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/01/08/2236194/vietnamese-man-believed-killed-over-money-owed-him

A Vitenamese businessman living in Abra may have been kidnapped and killed over money he had lent someone, provincial police said.

Police Lt. Col. Maly Cula, Abra police director, said initial probe results point suggest that money lent by Vo Tien Dung, 46, might have led to someone killing him instead of paying him back. Dung was found dead in a ravine in Barangay San Marcial, San Isidro town in Abra before New Year.

Dung was reported missing on December 28, 2022. In the afternoon of December 31, two students found him dumped along the provincial road in Barangay San Marcial. 

They reported what they saw at nearby police station in Villaviciosa town who, in turn reported the discovery to San Isidro cops.

Police Executive Master Sergeant Simon Mariano, San Isidro deputy chief, said they immediately went to the scene and found the body, which he said was already decomposing. He added police were able to identify the victim as some of his clothes matched the description of those worn by Dung when he went missing.

Dung was found wearing gray pants but no upper garments.

Mariano also said that — according to the pathologist who examined Dung's remains — the victim had been strangled to death. The body also had a wound that could have been from a sharp object or a bullet.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1198221

Four foreign nationals implicated in the kidnap for ransom and killing of a Filipino-Chinese businessman in Quezon City have been arrested, the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) said on Saturday.

The arrested suspects were Chinese citizens Bei Huimin, 30; Jielong Shen, 26; and Sun XiaoHui, 26; and Vietnamese national Hong Puc Le, 33, according to a news release.

"After receiving the information from the victim’s family, PNP-AKG operatives responded to the complaint and immediately commenced an investigation. However, while the investigation and backtracking were still ongoing, the kidnapped victim was killed by his captors and they threw away his cadaver in Tanza, Cavite in the morning of March 22, 2023," the PNP-AKG said.

The PNP-AKG sought assistance from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center.

After getting all the pertinent data, the PNP-AKG conducted operations on March 23.

The three Chinese nationals were arrested after withdrawing the ransom money of PHP560,000 from a bank along Quirino Avenue in Parañaque City.

Hong was arrested later on the same day at a mall in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

“The arrest of these individuals is an important step forward in our efforts to dismantle their group and protect our communities. Rest assured that justice will spring out and we will get to the bottom of this," PNP-AKG chief Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Castil Jr. said in a statement.

That is seven businessmen assassinated in the first quarter of the year.