PUP official killed in Sta. Mesa ambush

MANILA, Philippines – A high-ranking official of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) was killed in an ambush late Wednesday.

Augustus Cezar, PUP Vice President for Administration, was shot along Pureza St. near Magsaysay Boulevard in Sta. Mesa, Manila at past 10:15 pm, initial reports said.

Witnesses said Cezar, who was inside his vehicle on his way home from PUP, was shot by two men onboard a motorcycle. A bystander was also wounded in the shooting.

He was killed after suffering from 2 gunshot wounds in the head, coming from a .45 caliber firearm.

Police are currently investigating the incident.

Last week, Cezar was one of the respondents in a case filed by PUP President Dante Guevarra in connection with the ongoing leadership problems at the state university.

Guevarra filed several charges against Cezar, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chair Patricia Licuanan, and PUP board secretary Estelita dela Rosa, in connection with the creation of a search committee for the next PUP president and the appointment of an officer-in-charge.

Joel Escander, a member of the PUP faculty union, said Cezar, along with several other PUP officials, was also a respondent in a graft case filed in 2007 about alleged overpricing of PUP campuses outside Manila.

Escander also said Cezar was also a respondent in a 1998 corruption case filed at the Sandiganbayan by two professors.

Cezar was also the chair of the PUP Bids and Awards Committee. He also taught accounting and law subjects at the university. – Rappler.com