MANILA, Philippines – In a daring daylight attack, gunmen opened fire yesterday on the Quezon City house of Social Security System President Romulo Neri, a controversial figure of late for his role in the NBN-ZTE scandal that has entangled President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Neri told reporters he was in the shower when two vans pulled up outside his residence with a group of armed men in military uniforms who shot at his house and parked vehicle.

The gate and walls of Neri’s two-story house and his car were riddled with bullet holes but Neri and members of his household were unhurt.

Chief Inspector Jesus Bacani, head of the city’s Scene of Crimes Operatives said more than a hundred shells of M-16 rifles was recovered from the street, at the garage and on the roof.

He said the bullet hole count was close to 150. At least 50 bullet holes were found on Neri’s van. All came from M-16 rifles, Bacani said.

Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego, head of the Quezon City Police District, said the attack occurred at about 9 a.m.

It was carried out very quickly and with precision, lasting for no more than 10 minutes, witnesses said.

A “shaken” Neri reported for work at the SSS but agreed to be interviewed while having lunch.

He said he could not imagine why he would be attacked. He said he had even earlier reduced his security staff because “I did not think there was any threat against me.”

“I have no enemies. I don’t know of anyone being angry with me,” he said.

The President condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the attack on Neri, said Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.

She also ordered the Philippine National Police to secure Neri and set up a task force to investigate the incident.

In eye of scandal

Last year, Neri was caught in the middle of the NBN-ZTE scandal in which the President’s husband and other high officials were accused of allegedly getting kickbacks from a Chinese company, ZTE Corp., in exchange for a contract to set up a national broadband network.

Remonde said police investigators were looking into several motives for the attack, including Neri’s testimony on the NBN-ZTE scandal.

“It’s possible that the actors perpetrated it in order to terrorize Secretary Neri into going against the President, because long before this, Secretary Neri has been receiving text messages to this effect,” he said.

Another angle being pursued is that “right-wing elements” carried out the attack in hopes that this would be blamed on the government or former elections chief Benjamin Abalos Jr., who was also linked to the NBN-ZTE controversy, Remonde said.

But police was not limiting its investigation to this but exploring “every possible angle,” he said.

Renato Vallesan, one of Neri’s security men, said he was outside the house waiting for Neri with the driver, Jun Santillan, when the armed men arrived in two vans.

He said seven men alighted from each of the two still moving vans, shouted at him to drop to the ground while pointing a long firearm at him. They disarmed Santillan who tried to make a run for it.

Vallesan said the men moved very quickly. Two stood on the shoulders of two of their companions, aimed their firearms on the house’s second floor and started firing. Another pair positioned themselves at both ends of the fence and also fired on the second floor.

Two other men stood across the street and fired at the gate and Neri’s van parked in front of the gate.

Miraculously, none of the people inside the house, who included, aside from Neri, a nephew, three maids and several security people, were hurt.

The nephew, who was sleeping in his room, saved himself from harm by dropping to the floor and crawling out of the room, said Vallesan, who scraped his elbow when he dropped to the ground.

He said some of the armed men had scarves around their necks, and all wore black fisherman’s hats.

‘In military uniforms’

Maning and Karen Castro, who lived across the street from Neri, said they were about to open their gate when they saw the armed men.

“I saw more than 10 soldiers in green military uniforms alight from two vans and take positions in front of Neri’s house, before the bursts of gunshots,” said Maning.

“The gunshots lasted for at least seven minutes, non-stop, it was so loud,” Karen said.

The couple said the men were all young, about late 20s and early 30s, and quick and precise in their movements.

They also noted that while Neri’s toyota Hi-Ace van was peppered with bullets the car of another neighbor that was parked near it was unscathed.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Elenzano, deputy chief of the district Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), said witnesses saw the armed men transfer to an L-300 van and a Hi-Ace. The getaway cars’ plate numbers were covered by a streamer saying, “relief goods operations, do not delay.”

The two vans in which they originally came were later found abandoned on a street two blocks away from Neri’s house.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) yesterday formed a special task force to investigate the attack on Neri’s house.

NCRPO chief, Director Roberto Rosales, said Task Force Neri would be headed by San Diego, and composed of the different intelligence and investigation units of the five police districts.

San Diego said they have no suspects yet.

Elanzano said all possible motives would be considered.

“The investigation will cover the bungled ZTE deal, his present position as SSS head, the destabilization plots, his personal circumstances as well as other possible motives as the investigation progresses,” he said.

He added that his initial assessment of the motive was to scare Neri.

To scare, not to kill

“It seems that the intention was to scare, not to kill, because if they wanted to hurt him, they were almost inside the house without strong resistance,” Elenzano said.

He said Neri has four guards, including two security personnel from the SSS.

Rosales said the Quezon City police department would be providing Neri with additional close-in security on a 24-hour basis. With reports from Allison W. Lopez; Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net