Construction worker shot dead at home on Christmas

MANILA, Philippines – A construction worker was shot dead at 12 am on Wednesday, December 25, at his home in Barangay Tangos-North, Navotas City.

The victim was identified as 32-year-old Rhyan Cuarteros. He was in the house with his partner Jonalyn Tenso, who witnessed the reported shooting incident perpetrated by two alleged suspects. 

According to a police report, one of the suspects barged into the house while Cuarteros had been sleeping with his partner. 

Cuarteros reportedly resisted being pulled out of his house by the suspect, so an accomplice shot him twice in the upper chest and left armpit, causing his “instantaneous death.” The suspects then fled the scene.

Caloocan City Bishop Pablo Virgilo “Ambo” David, who first posted about the incident on his Facebook account, said masked killers do not take a day off killing people, even during Christmas.

“Last night, Dec. 24, just before midnight, Ryan Cuarteros, a 32 year-old, construction worker, was shot and killed inside his home in one of our mission stations, Tangos North, Navotas,” he said on his Facebook post.

“Two men wearing bonnets forced their way into their home and wanted to take Ryan with them, but the wife held on to Ryan. Unable to take their target, the men just shot and killed Ryan before his wife, not even giving him the chance to celebrate Christmas with his family,” the bishop continued.

David is a staunch critic of the extrajudicial killings done under President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.  

David called on the faithful to say “a silent prayer of consolation and hope to the Baby Jesus of Bethlehem for Ryan’s family.”

Navotas Police said they were currently conducting follow-up operations, but justice seems elusive as the case file of Cuarteros only adds up to a pile of unsolved cases of laborers killed by masked men in the northern part of the metropolis. – Rappler.com