DoH pressing justice for slain nurse

The Department of Health (DoH) will join the families of slain good samaritan nurse Mark John Blanco and bystander Willy Maranom in seeking justice for their deaths, according to DoH spokesperson Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo.

“Harm should never be exchanged for help,” Domingo said in a statement.

Blanco, 38, was shot in the head on 28 April in Barangay 173, Caloocan City, after helping a motorcycle rider, 54-year-old Joel Vecino, who had fallen due to intoxication, according to Caloocan police Sub-station 9 commander Maj. Segundino Bulan.

Bulan said Blanco was simply assisting Vecino back onto his motorcycle when Vecino shot him with a 9mm Glock pistol.

A female witness who saw the incident called for help, and construction worker Maranom, 39, responded. Vecino then shot Maranom in the chest before fleeing the scene on his motorcycle, police said.

The suspect crashed his motorcycle into a vehicle shortly after and was apprehended. Police recovered a white Yamaha R15 motorcycle, three spent bullet casings, a 9mm magazine, and a Glock 19X handgun with the serial number AGGL666 from the scene.

Vecino was charged with two counts of murder before the Caloocan prosecutor’s office on 30 April. He initially claimed to be a former politician’s security officer, but authorities found him to be an assistant detachment commander for Great Star Security Services in Laguna.

Blanco is survived by his five children.