82-year-old slay witness shot dead in Nueva Ecija

CABANATUAN CITY  – An octogenarian witness in a killing 18 years ago was shot dead on Valentine’s Day by a lone assassin in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, three days before he was to testify in the case.

Senior Supt. Crizaldo Nieves, provincial police director, said Alfredo Manawis, 82, a widower, was shot in the head while watching television in his home in Barangay Calabasa, Gabaldon town at around 12:30 p.m. Feb. 14.

Senior Insp. Rodolfo Racho, Gabaldon police chief, said the gunman fled aboard an unlicensed black Mio Yamaha motorcycle toward Dingalan, Aurora.

Racho said the gunman was described as 5’8” tall and medium built, and was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, maong pants, and a baseball cap.

Racho said the killing might be related to the killing of a certain Apolinario Lazaro on Feb. 20, 1996, in which Manawis would take the witness stand today.

Lazaro’s nephew Orlando Lazaro Jr. was arrested for the killing, which reportedly stemmed from a land dispute.

SPO1 Arnold Barrogo, officer-on-case, said Orlando was also linked to the Sept. 20, 2012 killing of Apolinario’s brother Feliciano.