BY GLAZYL MASCULINO
BACOLOD CITY – A man was brutally murdered Sunday by five armed men while celebrating Valentine’s Day with his girlfriend in a resort in Barangay Tibsok, San Enrique, Negros Occidental.
The perpetrators shot 33-year-old Ryan Villanueva 28 times, a day after he celebrated his birthday. He was confirmed to be under the drug watchlist of La Carlota City Police Station.
Maj. Renante Salgado, town police chief, said the victim succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds in the head, back, and hands.
Salgado said the victim and his girlfriend, along with three other friends, went outing to celebrate his birthday on February 13.
On February 14, the victim was having snacks with his girlfriend when the perpetrators forcibly entered their rented room around 2:30 a.m., Salgado said.
Then some of the perpetrators escorted the woman out of the room, while the gunmen shot the victim several times and fled, leaving the woman unharmed, the police chief added.
Police recovered from the room suspected marijuana seeds, improvised tooter, and broken tooters.
The couple’s companions who were at the adjacent room heard the gunshots but failed to recognize the perpetrators, Salgado said.
He said the resort had a security guard but he might have fallen asleep when the perpetrators entered the vicinity.
Salgado said they are still investigating the motive of the incident.
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Jonel Guadalupe, chief of La Carlota City Police Station, said the victim was under monitoring for illegal drugs but had no criminal record at the police station.
