Manhunt on for House official killers

Manhunt on for House official killers | Daily Tribune

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) has launched manhunt operations against the perpetrators behind the fatal shooting of Technical Staff of the House Committee on Ways and Means chief Mauricio Pulhin.

Initial reports said that Pulhin was killed on Sunday afternoon during his seven-year-old daughter’s birthday celebration in a subdivision in Barangay Commonwealth. He was rushed to FEU-NRMF Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

“Our victim is an employee of the House of Representatives. We are now ascertaining the motive of this crime,” said Police Lt. Col. Romil Avenido, Batasan Police Station commander.

“We responded immediately and were able to rush the victim to the hospital, but he was dead on arrival,” he added.

According to police reports, two unidentified suspects riding in tandem on a motorcycle entered the party venue and shot Pulhin at close range. As they fled, they also fired at the subdivision’s security guard before escaping.

Avenido said investigators are retrieving CCTV footage from the vicinity to track down the assailants and cited that the crime appeared “well-planned,” indicating the perpetrators had studied the area.

The suspects left behind a fake identification card, which police initially used to identify and take into custody the ID’s owner, only to discover it had been lost two years prior.

Avenido told DAILY TRIBUNE that police have identified a “person of interest” and are looking into a business rivalry angle, as Pulhin was involved in the medical supply business. “We have possibly identified persons of interest, but right now our backtracking and investigation are ongoing,” he said.

Meantime, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Monday expressed profound grief and outrage over Pulhin’s death, calling it a “brutal and senseless act of violence that must not go unanswered.”

“I am deeply saddened and outraged by the tragic death of Director Mauricio ‘Morrie’ Pulhin. This crime must not go unanswered. Justice must prevail,” Romualdez said in a statement.

He described Pulhin as “a long-serving and dedicated public servant” whose “professionalism, integrity, and quiet commitment to his work earned him the respect of his peers and superiors alike.”

Romualdez called on the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to conduct a “thorough, impartial, and swift investigation.”

He also stressed that “all angles must be pursued — including, but not limited to, his professional affiliations — so that the truth may come out and justice may be served.”