Former Moises Padilla mayor condemns killing

The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) said they are presently looking into illegal drugs as the motive behind last weekend’s murder of notorious drug personality Ricky Serenio, who formerly served as a bagman for the Berya drug group. In a radio interview with Aksyon Radyo yesterday morning, BCPO director, Police Colonel Henry Biñas, said, after the shooting incident, they recovered several items from Serenio’s vehicle, including five pocket-sized notebooks and three regular-sized notebooks with names, codenames, and numbers.
In addition, authorities recovered six bank books, one of which was under the Serenio’s name; however, they did not recover any money or illegal drugs from the vehicle. Police also noted, the victim had been renting a home in Barangay Pahanocoy.
Biñas added, they will continue investigating Serenio’s purported involvement with the local drug trade.
Meanwhile, former Moises Padilla Mayor Magdaleno Peña, who also serves as an adviser for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, issued a statement yesterday condemning the incident.
Peña said Serenio, who had been under the protection of the former mayor, proved President Rodrigo Duterte correct when he declared Negros as one of the top locales in terms of “shabu infestation.”
“He did Negros a great service because, after his exposé, the named policemen were either dismissed from service or removed from the province.” he explained. “Now, he paid for it with his life, together with his father and brother who were both gunned down in 2017.”
Peña also acknowledged providing safe refuge for Serenio and his family after the former bagman named several high-ranking police officers with alleged links to illegal drugs.
“I have helped [Serenio] lived a normal life with his family for the last two years,” he added. “Now, I am determined to help find justice for him.”
Last Saturday, Serenio was gunned down by three riding-in-tandem suspects near the Manville Royale Subdivision in Barangay Pahanocoy.
Two suspects, later identified as 30-year-old Allan Bustamante of Toboso and 30-year-old Bacolod City resident Joemar Dumip-ig of Barangay 14’s Purok Boulevard, were immediately arrested after a patrolling police vehicle happened to pass by the area as the incident unfolded.
Both suspects are presently under hospital arrest at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital after each sustained gunshot wounds to the leg.
Serenio became controversial after he linked several high-ranking police officers in Negros Occidental and politicians from the Western Visayas to the illegal drug trade.
/DGB, WDJ