Attacks in Isabela and Cagayan kill 3, injure 6

MANILA, Philippines (4th UPDATE) – Three people died while 6 others were hurt in an ambush in the town of Jones in Isabela province on Saturday, May 7.

In a phone interview, Police Chief Inspector Chevalier Iringan, information officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Cagayan Valley, said a still unidentified armed group fired at an Isuzu Crosswind carrying supporters of Liberal Party mayoralty bet Melanie Uy in the village of Namnama at around 8:30 in the morning.

Iringan said reports coming from the Isabela Police Province Office identified the victims as Senior Police Officer 4 (SPO4) Arthur Anunciacion, 54; Roderick Eugenio, 51; and Lydia Zapata, 52.

Hurt were SPO4 Anunciacion’s wife, Rhoda and their 12-year old daughter; Julius Julian, 27; and driver Samuel Bulusan, 39.

Escaping death

According to RJ Vallejo, councilor bet and spokesperson of LP’s slate in Jones, the wife and daughter of late SPO4 Anunciation played dead to escape death.

Vallejo told Rappler that Anunciacion’s 12-year old daughter survived a shot to the head. She is still unconscious and in critical condition as of 9:00 am on Sunday, May 8.

“Kakaalis lang po yung bala sa ulo niya… Si Ma’am Rhoda po nagrerecover na, may tama po ng bala sa leeg… Tahimik pong nagluluksa ang pamilya nila sa pagkamatay ni SPO4 Anunciacion,” Vallejo said in a phone interview.

(The bullet has just been removed from her head. Ma’am Rhoda is now recovering from a gunshot wound in her neck. SPO4 Anunciacion’s family is now quietly grieving.)

Vallejo added that SPO4 Anunciacion distracted the gunmen by leading them to the ricefield. Three to 4 of the suspects, however, later caught up with him, killing him.

“Tumakbo pala siya para lituhin yung mga bumabaril kasi alam na niyang nabakbakan yung mag-ina niya sa harapan eh. Pero may dati na siyang tama sa basisaw,” Vallejo said.

(He ran to confuse the gunmen because he already knew that his wife and daughter have been shot in front. But he already had gunshot wounds in the bladder.)

Election-related violence

The attack happened a day after Jones town was placed under Comelec control.

Responding troops from the Army 86th Infantry Battalion encountered an undertermined number of armed men, the military said. 

It is the latest in a series of election-related violence in the town. Vice Mayor Ronnie Lucas, who was running for the same position, was slain on April 14 by suspected rebels while he and his campaign team were on their way to a village to distribute relief goods. A day later, councilor bet Heinrich Apostol was shot dead in his own backyard.

Last year, Vice Mayor Florante Raspado was also gunned down inside the council’s session hall by retired soldiers. (READ: Complete list of Isabela candidates) 

Cagayan ambush

Meanwhile, Councilor bet Roban Elizaga and his group were shot at while they were having a drinking session in Naddungan village in Gattaran, Cagayan.

Police Senior Inspector Ronnie Labbao, information officer of the Cagayan provincial police office, said the ambush occurred at around 10:30 pm on May 7 at the house of a certain Magno Sahagun.

Labbao said the gunmen were carried by a blue-green colored van.

No deaths were recorded but 2 were reported injured.

Elizaga is running for councilor under “Team Pagbabago,” a group running against the town’s ruling party. 

On Sunday, May 8, Police Senior Inspector Edgard Unista, the town police chief of Gattaran, was relieved from office as police investigated the Saturday shooting incident.

PSI Ronnie Labbao, information officer of the Cagayan provincial police office, said the two police officers under Unista were among the 10 people arrested as suspects by the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the 17th Infantry Battalion. – Rappler.com