By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) is still facing a blank wall relative to the assassination of a consultant for the provincial government last Monday night.

Police Lt. Abegael Donasco, spokesperson for NOCPPO and the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Marton Cui, said they still do not have any leads over the identities of the assassins who attacked Mariano Antonio “Marton” Cui III, a provincial consultant for hospital operations.

Donasco confirmed that investigators recovered several slugs from an unidentified firearm and they are presently trying to identify the slugs’ caliber.

In a separate radio interview via Radyo Bandera Sweet FM Bacolod, Rolando Andutan, a friend of Cui and owner of the Sanca Security Agency which shares an office with the slain provincial official at the Emerald Arcade in San Carlos City, said it is very likely that a sniper rifle was used in the murder and the gunman took position at least between 35 to 50 meters away from Cui’s Land Rover.

The gunman also hid inside a Starex van, and hours prior to the incident, the gunman was spotted trying to break a tree branch which Andutan believes may have been obstructing the gunman’s sight.

He also pointed out that it is possible that the gunman was actually aiming for Cui’s head, but instead shot him on his neck.

Last Monday night, Cui was shot as he was leaving his office at Emerald Arcade on F.C. Ledesma Avenue in the said city.

He later died while receiving treatment at the San Carlos City District Hospital./DGB, WDJ.