ILOILO CITY – A municipal councilor of Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental was shot dead early yesterday morning.
A report from Philippine National Police Regional Office 6 identified the victim as Councilor Jolomar Bañares Hilario who is seeking reelection in the May 13 midterm elections.
The 51-year-old councilor was sleeping when trucks with 50 armed men arrived at his house in Barangay Inoligan at past 6 a.m. While raiding his house, the armed men claimed to be members of the New People’s Army.
The perpetrators went inside Hilario’s room and peppered him with bullets before fleeing.
Hilario was taken to a nearby clinic, but was declared dead on arrival. He succumbed to several bullet wounds in different parts of his body.
He was killed two days after the local campaign period started and the 50th founding anniversary of the NPA, the armed group of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
The incident also came a week after the Philippine Army and the police arrested Frank Fernandez, a former priest-turned-high-ranking leader of the NPA in Negros, and his wife in Laguna.
The PA 3rd Infantry Division and PRO 6 have urged candidates in Negros and Panay not to pay permit-to-campaign fees to the NPA. (Tara Yap)