Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Director Brig. Gen. Remus Medina said on Monday, July 25, that the suspect's motive for assassinating former Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay during a graduation ceremony at the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) on Sunday, July 24, is the number of cyber libel raps filed against him by the Furigays.
"According to him (suspect), talagang desidido sya na makaganti dahil yun nga lumalabas na kinasuhan sya sinampahan sya ng maraming kaso ng cyberlibel, at di nya magawa ang kanyang trabaho bilang isang doktor dahil sa abala na dulot sa kanya ng pag fa-file ng kaso (According to him, he is very decided in taking revenge because apparently, he was charged with numerous cases of cyber libel, preventing him from performing his duties as a doctor)," Medina said in an interview with DZBB.
Medina added that the suspect, identified as Chao Tiao Yumol, also a Lamitan native, was "very cooperative and very vocal" in cooperating with the police after his arrest. Yumol is now detained at Camp Karingal.
During the police's investigation, Yumol denied that politics was his motive for Furigay's assassination.
"Tinatanggi nya na involved sya sa politics kasi wala syang sinalihan na pwesto sa gobyerno, sa pagtakbo sa election. Kaya sinasabi nya na personal ito and not politics (He denied that he was involved in politics because he never coveted any position in the government, nor ran in any election)," Medina said.
He clarified that the shooting incident in Ateneo is not similar to the ones happening in other parts of the globe, particularly in the United States.
"Ito ay isang kaso ng isolated case, hindi active shooting. Kasi ang pagkakaiba po nung active shooting, meron pa syang kakayahan na bumaril ng kahit kanino lang kahit wala na syang target (This is an isolated case, not an active shooting incident. The difference between the two is that in an active shooting incident, the gunman is still capable of shooting anyone else even without a specific target)," Medina explained.
"Ito po matapos nyang masagawa ang kanyang pakay na patayin ang kalaban nya, si Furigay, flight-mode na sya umaalis na sya at di na sya lumaban pa ng habulin natin (In this case, after killing Furugay, he immediately switched into flight-mode and escaped. He did not even fight back when our operatives caught him)," the director added.
The shooting incident left three persons dead, including Furigay, one ADMU security guard identified by the police as Jeneven Bandiola, and Victor George Capistrano, the executive assistant of Furigay.
Furigay was declared dead in the hospital with gunshot wounds on the head and chest. Her daughter was also rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Medina said Furigay was shot while walking towards the lobby of one of the buildings of the school where the graduation of Ateneo Law students was supposed to be held.