BACOLOD CITY – An incumbent village councilor and a former barangay councilor were gunned down in two separate incidents in Negros Occidental last Thursday.
The first incident was reported in Don Salvador Benedicto. Killed was Fernando Toreno, a former councilman of Barangay Kumaliskis.
The second incident involved Raul Fat, 48, an incumbent councilman of Barangay Macagahay, Moises Padilla, who was shot to death by two unidentified men near the barangay hall past 11 a.m.
Police Capt. Hancel Lumandaz, Moises Padilla police chief, said Fat was at the clinic when two men approached him and suddenly shot him at close range.
The gunmen then fled on foot, along with their four unidentified companions who served as their lookout, Lumandaz said.
Fat died on the spot due to a bullet wound in the head.
Police Capt. Jerald Muya, Don Salvador Benedicto police chief, said Toreno was riding a motorcycle when a red sports utility vehicle was tailing him around 8 a.m. The SUV suddenly waylaid him and about five unidentified men fired their guns at him and fled.
Toreno sustained multiple bullet wounds and was taken to a private hospital here but he was pronounced dead on arrival due to head injuries.
Muya said it is possible that the assailants used a rented car when they committed the crime. He said they are eyeing grudge as possible motive behind the killing.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office has presented three persons of interest in the killing of Toreno.
Police Col. Romeo Baleros, Nocppo director, said these persons were arrested after they were intercepted by personnel of the San Carlos City Police Station in a checkpoint in Barangay Rizal an hour after the killing.
One of them was identified as Armando Larida, 42, of Barangay Bagong Silang, Don Salvador Benedicto. Police recovered from him a .45 caliber pistol with five standard magazines, 30 rounds of live ammunition, a sling bag, and a holster.
Larida was driving a motorcycle, along with his nephew and another companion, when they were arrested by the police around 9:15 a.m. Muya said a witness identified the three arrested persons as among the assailants who killed Toreno based on the clothes they were wearing. (Glazyl Masculino)