By CESAR JOLITO III
Three firearms confiscated from a wanted fugitive in Negros Occidental’s Sipalay City have been matched to 13 separate shooting incidents in Bacolod City spanning from 2021 to 2025.
Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director, Colonel Joeresty Coronica, said the discovery followed a ballistic cross-matching examination requested by BCPO after the arrest of 37-year-old Joemar Dumip-ig, a suspected gun-for-hire from Barangay 14.
Dumip-ig was apprehended in Sipalay City’s Barangay Cartagena on July 16 during a manhunt operation by the Sipalay Component City Police Station (CPS).
“We have knowledge that he is a gun-for-hire, so we requested the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office to conduct a cross-matching examination between the seized firearms and unresolved shooting cases in Bacolod. The results showed that 13 incidents matched,” Coronica said.
He stressed that these cases are separate from the recent high-profile killings of Efren Banaglorioso and Romie Li, both of which occurred in broad daylight.
According to Coronica, the 13 linked shootings include unsolved cases that police investigators are now re-examining.
He directed probers to trace the status of the incidents and coordinate with victims’ families to establish possible ties to the suspect.
Despite the positive ballistic matches, Coronica said further evidence will be required before formal charges can be filed in connection with the shootings.
“The firearms alone are not enough. We still need additional pieces of evidence to directly link the suspect to the incidents,” Coronica explained.
Sipalay CPS deputy chief, Lt. Cipriano Lumanog III said Dumip-ig was initially arrested for outstanding warrants of arrest for homicide and murder in Bacolod.
Weeks later, a follow-up search warrant at his hideout yielded three unlicensed firearms, which have since been turned over to the BCPO for forensic testing.
The BCPO has yet to release details of the 13 cases linked to the confiscated firearms, citing the need for confidentiality while investigations continue./CJ, WDJ