A former mayor of Lamitan, Basilan and two others were killed at a shooting incident in broad daylight at Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City on Sunday, hours before the start of its law school’s graduation rites.
What was supposed to be a joyous occasion turned into a traumatic experience after a lone gunman, later arrested and identified as Dr. Chao-Tiao Yumol, opened fire at the guests and security personnel at Ateneo’s Loyola Heights campus.
Authorities identified the fatalities as former Lamitan mayor Rose Furigay, her aide Victor George Capistrano and Ateneo campus security guard Jeneven Bandiola.
Furigay’s 25-year-old daughter, Hannah – a graduating law student – was rushed to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center for treatment.
“Ateneo de Manila University extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. There is no acceptable reason for violence.
We hope and pray that justice will be swiftly served,” the university said in a statement.
QCPD director Brig. Gen. Remus Medina said Yumol, 38, is a medical doctor from Lamitan City, Basilan.
“Initially, during our questioning, we learned that there were already disputes between them in Lamitan. They were filing cases against each other and the fight was personal. He (Yumol) was unable to practice his profession as a doctor. That’s one of his motivations in committing the crime,” Medina said.
He said the Furigays had filed 76 cyber libel cases against Yumol. The Furigays’ legal counsel, Quirino Esguerra, added the shooter held a personal grudge against the former mayor.
“Because of that, he posted several malicious insinuations against the mayor, the vice-mayor, and the city government employees leading to the filing of more than 70 cyber-libel cases,” Esguerra told ABS-CBN in an interview.
“Tomorrow we are supposed to have a hearing in Davao City for the cyber-libel cases,” he added.
The gunman was able to hide his two firearms equipped with silencers as he entered the campus.
Yumol tried to escape by scaling the wall of Varsity Hills Subdivision inside Barangay Loyola Heights and taking a ride to a waiting getaway vehicle heading toward Aurora Boulevard, but he was nabbed along Esteban Abada Street.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was shocked and saddened by the shooting incident.
“We are shocked and saddened by the events at the Ateneo graduation today. We mourn with the bereaved, the wounded, and those whose scars from this experience will run deep,” Marcos wrote in a Facebook post.
“We commit our law enforcement agencies to thoroughly and swiftly investigate these killings and bring all involved to justice,” he added.
Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman also condemned the shooting.
“It is especially heartbreaking because Mayor Rose was there as a parent excited to attend her daughter’s graduation. What was supposed to be a happy moment was destroyed by this senseless violence,” Hataman said.
While the gunman has been arrested, Hataman urged authorities to identify the crime’s mastermind.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte similarly denounced the shooting, saying that it had “no place in our society and must be condemned to the highest level.”
“We also extend our sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives in the incident,” she said.
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo was supposed to be the guest speaker during the scheduled graduation ceremony.
However, Gesmundo, who at the time of the shooting incident at about 2:55 p.m., was still on his way to Ateneo, “was advised to turn back,” according to Supreme Court spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka.
“The Chief Justice is safe,” Hosaka added. With Gabriellea B. Parino
