Manila police, NBI deny Nestor Punzalan was shooter in Quiapo road rage killing

The Manila Police District on Tuesday night said that Nestor Punzalan, who owns a red Hyundai Eon, was not the man who killed a bicycle rider in a road rage shooting in Quiapo, Manila.

Senior Inspector Rommel Anicete, chief of the Manila Police District's homicide division, said they already have the identity and picture of the suspected killer, who is not Punzalan.

Anicete said they will release the identity of their suspect anytime today.

Meanwhile, Top Gear editor Vernon Sarne apologized for posting the photo of Punzalan's vehicle on the motoring publication's Facebook page.

"I was responsible for posting the photo of Mr. Punzalan's vehicle, and I realize now that I shouldn't have done so. I accept full responsibility. This is all on me. I will do my best to reach out to Mr. Punzalan and personally apologize to him and his family. The buck stops here. This is all my fault," he said.

In an interview on Unang Hirit, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin also denied that Punzalan was the authorities' suspect in the road rage killing.

He said the NBI has also launched manhunt operations against the suspect.

A man driving a red Hyundai Eon was seen in a viral CCTV footage shooting bicycle rider Mark Vincent Garalde after an altercation along P. Casal Street in Quiapo.

The Hyundai Eon driver and Garalde were also seen having a fistfight before the shooting.

The NBI had inspected Punzalan's red Hyundai Eon and found no evidence that it figured in the altercation.

A copy of Punzalan's medico legal examination report also proved that he had no bruises, which he should have sustained if he had a fistfight with the victim.

Punzalan surfaced at the NBI's headquarters in Manila on Tuesday night to clear his name.

His name and pictures surfaced on social media after police initially provided the media the wrong conductor sticker of the suspect's vehicle. —ALG/KG, GMA News