Motorcycle taxi rider robbed, shot dead by passenger in Cavite

A motorcycle taxi rider was robbed and killed by a passenger who booked a trip from Manila to Cavite, but the tragedy did not end there as the suspect went on to extort money from the victim’s grieving wife and sibling.

According to EJ Gomez’s exclusive report in “24 Oras” on Wednesday, the victim was identified as 35-year-old Ren Ren De Laviga.

The police said the suspect booked a ride from Tondo, Manila to Carmona, Cavite last July 9. It added the death was first reported to them as a hit-and-run incident.

“No one confirmed hearing any gunshots, nor were there any reports of them. The area, Ma'am, is somewhat far from residential houses... but while the crime scene was being processed, investigators found an empty shell casing and an unexploded bullet,” said Carmona Component City Police Station chief P/Lt. Col. Rene Joy Mosquiza.

The brother of the victim said that he was found dead with a gunshot wound on the head.

“He was lying face up in the middle of the road. Lifeless. He really had a bullet hole in his temple,” the victim’s brother said.

Police said the stolen motorcycle was located at Trece Martires in Cavite, wherein a shooting incident involving the suspect also occurred.

“An abandoned motorcycle was recovered in Trece [Martires], which the family has confirmed belongs to the victim in the Carmona incident. The suspect apparently shot the victim in Trece, took their motorcycle, and seemingly swapped the motorcycle obtained from Carmona with the one left behind in Trece,” said Mosquiza.

The victims’ widow shared that she exchanged messages with her late husband before he proceeded to Carmona. At past midnight, she still received a message from the victim without knowing that it was already the suspect.

The suspect used the victim’s mobile number and e-wallet account to ask for money from her.

The widow added that the suspect, in the guise of her already dead husband, claimed that he hit a motorcycle in Naic. She later became suspicious as they talked.

“He said he was at the barangay hall, but the picture he sent me showed his motorcycle with its compartment open and his things scattered around, which really made me suspicious. And the picture he sent was just of a closed store's rolling shutter, so I thought to myself, 'That's not what a barangay hall looks like’,” the victim’s wife said.

She thought that her husband’s account could have been hacked. But the suspect later admitted that he wass pretending to be her husband.

“(The suspect) said he had my husband, saying, 'Give me P5,000 if you still want your husband to come home alive.' I told him, 'If you are indeed holding my husband, show him to me—a photo, a video, or even just a voice clip for five seconds, just to prove he is still alive and that you have him,' but he wouldn't give anything,” she said.

The suspect also asked for money from the victim’s other sibling who was overseas.

Before sending any money, the victim's family coordinated with the police. A joint operation was immediately launched by the Carmona Police, Trece Martires Police, and Manila Police District Station 1, leading to the suspect’s arrest in Tondo, Manila

The police recovered the victim’s motorcycle and a .45 caliber pistol from the suspect.

The suspect is now detained at the Trece Martires Police Custodial Facility and will face charges for Anti-Carnapping Act of 2016 and frustrated homicide. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA News