The father of Dr. Chao Tiao Yumol, the suspect in the recent shooting at Ateneo de Manila University that left three persons dead, was shot dead outside his home in Basilan early Friday, police said.
Rolando Yumol, a retired policeman and businessman, was killed by unidentified assassins who shot him four times in the back in front of his house in Brgy. Maganda,
Lamitan City, Basilan, said national police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo.
With no arrests made as of press time, “the case is still under investigation, we are still collecting information,” Police Lt. Col. Tadzhabel Managola, chief of Lamitan City Police, told radio DZBB.
The elder Yumol was buried immediately, according to the Ronda Del Basilan Facebook page, which posted photos of the slain man in an open casket in a field, surrounded by relatives.
The younger Yumol, currently detained in Quezon City, was arrested on Sunday after the shooting incident at the Ateneo that left former Lamitan Mayor Rose Furigay, her aide Victor Capistrano, and security guard Jeneven Bandiala dead.
Furigay’s daughter Hannah, who was supposed to graduate on Sunday, is still recuperating at a hospital.
In a statement, the Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) said the 69-year-old Yumol was shot outside his home in Barangay Maganda. Three empty shells of caliber 45 were recovered from the scene, it said
“So far, it is speculative to assume its direct relation to the shooting incident that happened last Sunday (July 24) at the Ateneo de Manila University,” added PNP Public Information Office chief Police Brig. Gen. Roderick Augustus Alba.
PNP director for operations Police Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon said all angles should be considered “to ensure that we will be running after the right people responsible for this attack.”
“That is why we have to be very careful in the conduct of the investigation in this case,” he said.
Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman, for his part, condemned the killing of Rolando Yumol, calling it senseless.
“I want to stress this: Killing is always senseless under any circumstances. There is no place for violence in a society that aims for progress and peace,” Hataman said in statement.
“It is our hope that this latest act of violence would not progress into a series of violent actions. Killing should never be normalized in our culture, especially since these could harm innocent people,” he added.
Basilan residents, Hataman said, have the responsibility to protect the peace they have long worked on.
“Let us not allow the mistake of others to bury us in that cycle of violence. We are still recovering from the pandemic which severely affected our economy and livelihood. We need to ensure peace and order in our province,” the solon said.
Hataman warned the public against passing judgment on people without concrete evidence.
“Let us not judge and fan the flame of emotions of the grieving families. Baseless speculations won’t help and could trigger another violence,” he said.
“We express our condolences to the family of Rolando Yumol and call on authorities to probe and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Hataman added.
Chao Tiao Yumol was a disgruntled doctor who had a years-long grudge against the Furigays, a lawyer for the family said.
“This all started when he was operating an infirmary clinic,” lawyer Quirino Esguerra told ABS-CBN News. “The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) issued a cease and desist order. Because Lamitan City is included in BARMM, it was [then] Mayor Rose Furigay who implemented it.”
“When she implemented that order from BARMM, that’s when Dr. Chao-Tiao Yumol got angry,” Esguerra said.
The lawyer added that as early as 2018, Yumol has been posting baseless accusations against Furigay, prompting the politician to file at least 70 cyber libel cases against him.
A hearing for those cases was scheduled on June 25 in Davao City, he said.
When police presented Yumol to the media, he insisted that Furigay was involved in drugs, an accusation the family repeatedly denied.