Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte believes Davao is still safe, although he admitted in his Sunday television program that the recent killing of Richard King was jolting.
“That was brazen, the gunman did not care to even hide his face, he just walked in and walked out like it’s an ordinary thing,” he said.
Duterte assured that the killings would be solved “in due time.”
Richard King, a Cebu-based businessman who operated the Crown Regency Inn and Vital-C networking here in Davao, was shot dead on the evening of June 12.
Witnesses said King was having dinner at the his office in Sobrecary Street with his office mates when the gunman walked in and shot him in the head, and walked away.
Duterte said that the recent cases were not linked to syndicates but rather on personal squabbles of the victims.
“I don’t think it has an effect (to the business community). (Besides) there are no kidnapping cases. These are crimes of passion,” he said.
The mayor referred to the first two cases where investigations showed the victims were caught in a love triangle.
On the case of lawyer Emmanuel Acuña, police suspected his murder was linked to his girlfriend’s ex-lover, an owner of various businesses in Kidapawan City.
On the second case of restaurant operator Ramon Garcia, police arrested a couple who took Garcia hostage and killed him in Malungon, Davao del Sur.
Duterte said the male suspect allegedly killed Garcia for thinking it was Garcia who got his girlfriend pregnant.
On the case of King, the mayor said the police is investigating the businessman’s business and personal involvement for leads.
“On King, we are looking at many angles. He has a networking (business), we know what is the end-game of that thing. He has businesses and partners that his wife doesn’t know,” Duterte said.
He revealed that he got a call from Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama who told him that King was also facing investigation in some cases in Cebu.
“I got a call from Mayor Rama. He told me King was his friend. He said this person had a case in Cebu involving a lawyer’s death, and another murder case in Boracay. And here in Davao, he has his own diskarte (approach) on things,” the mayor said.
But the mayor thinks the probe on King might take long time to solve, just like the case of Acuña.
“Sometimes you may slip away, but you cannot slip away all the time. These hitmen, they will get another job. And just one time, if they get caught, they will squeal,” Duterte said.(davaotoday.com)
