MANILA -- The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) released Wednesday the photos of 2 out of 5 "persons of interest" in the shooting incident that wounded a photojournalist in Barangay Masambong last Thursday.

• PNP says probing 5 persons of interest in tabloid photographer's shooting

On June 29, photojournalist Joshua Abiad was in an SUV with some relatives when they were ambushed. The four year-old child of Abiad’s brother died from the incident.

• Pamangkin ng tabloid photographer na kasamang na-ambush, pumanaw na

QCPD Director Police Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III said the photos were taken from CCTV footage “some distance away” from the crime scene, hours before the ambush.

The man wearing black long sleeves and black pants was the gunman, while the man wearing brown long sleeves was the spotter, according to Torre.

“Na-enhance natin ang kanilang pictures. I believe the public will be able to help us identify the suspects. There are three other suspects that remain to be identified. Hindi pa natatapos ang enhancement,” Torre said in a press conference.

“Itong tatlo na ito (persons of interest without photo), ang dalawa d’yan may idea na kami kung sino sila,” he added.

• QCPD kumpiyansang mahuhuli ang mga namaril sa mamamahayag

Torre urged the persons of interest to just surrender.

“’Wag sila manlaban... Ang tracker teams na lalapit sa kanila, if ever, are fully armed tactical teams because these are very dangerous personalities. Alam kong nanonoood ang mga ito. It’s best for their interest to just easily surrender,” Torre said.

He believes some of the persons of interest are staying outside Metro Manila.

The QCPD chief refused to disclose for now the motive for the shooting until they have apprehended the persons allegedly involved.

“Gun for hire talaga ito... Sigurado na kami kung sino sila,” Torre said.

The QCPD is finalizing the paperwork for the filing of the case against them.

“Ifa-file namin ang kaso with their names. Kung hindi Friday, Monday siguro. Tatapusin lang namin ang paperwork, para lumabas ang warrant nila,” Torre said.

Authorities earlier said Abiad's ambush may have had links to his work documenting a deadly seven-year-old crackdown on illegal drugs.

As a police beat reporter for Remate, Abiad is a witness to some drug cases and had been called to testify on them, police also said.

Abiad's shooting is the latest in a string of attacks on journalists in the Philippines, a country long considered to be among the most dangerous in the world for newsmen to work in.

-- With a report from Zyann Ambrosio, ABS-CBN News.

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