MANILA, Philippines – The killings in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela) area continues as another young individual was shot dead.

This time 20-year-old Daniel Gaudia Soria was killed by a still unknown assailant along Lapu-Lapu avenue, Barangay Longos, Malabon City, on the night of September 2 – exactly a month after the killing of Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar in Navotas City. Soria lived on the other side of the river near Jemboy’s house.

According to Daniel’s live-in partner, LA Moral, Daniel and Jemboy were not friends, but were acquaintances. The two also used to play basketball together, Moral told Rappler.

Moral said her partner went out on the night of September 2 to drink with his friends. He was accompanied by Reynaldo Bolivar, Moral’s cousin. At around 10 pm, Moral said she started waiting for her husband.

Moral revealed Bolivar was the subject being pursued by the Navotas police on the day the cops shot and killed Jemboy a month ago. Bolivar was a suspect in a shooting incident in the area near Jemboy’s house.

“Maya-maya, may nagtext, ‘Patay na ‘yong asawa mo.’ Wala ng isip-isip, hindi sumagi sa isip ko na baka nagbibiro lang siya (After a while, someone texted me, ‘Your husband is dead.’ I did not hesitate. It did not cross my mind if the sender was only joking at that time),” Moral said, adding that she received the text from her husband’s number at around 11:36 pm.

LA immediately headed to the area where Daniel said he would go drinking with friends. Not finding her partner there, she returned home. Shortly, she received information that Daniel was found dead in Barangay Longos.

Along the long road of Lapu-Lapu avenue, Moral found her partner’s dead body, lying on the rain-soaked ground. She shouted and cried in front of her husband’s lifeless body, Moral said.

Daniel was shot after alighting from a tricycle in the avenue. He was shot in the leg and was still able to run, but ultimately fell on the road. The assailant then fired six more shots to the victim’s body, said Daniel’s family.

The gunman also allegedly took Daniel’s phone and used this to text Moral about her partner’s death. Daniel’s phone has yet to be recovered, as of writing.

Set up?

According to Moral, on the day Daniel was killed, he was talking to a woman through Facebook Messenger. Daniel was supposed to meet the said woman in Malabon. Reynaldo, LA’s cousin, said Daniel and the woman were still talking right before he was killed.

LA said her cousin told her that her partner was likely set up to be killed because Daniel and her cousin were not able to meet the woman that night. Immediately after dropping the call with the said woman, a motorcycle arrived and parked in front of Daniel and Reynaldo. A rider of that motorcycle fired gunshots at them. Reynaldo survived the incident.

Authorities have yet to arrest Reynaldo, as of writing. – Rappler.com