Guard shot in front of mayor’s house in Negros Occidental

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – A security guard was injured Tuesday morning, July 21, after he was shot in front of the mayor’s house in Isabela, Negros Occidental, the same town where a provincial board member and his body guard were shot dead weeks earlier.

The victim was identified as Albert Escoltura, 37, of Barangay Cambarus, Pontevedra town, and who worked for E and R Security Agency Incorporated, said Senior Inspector Anthony Grande, the newly-installed Isabela police chief.

Grande said that the victim was riding on a motorcycle driven by Gerardo Canat, operation officer of E and R Security Agency, when they were waylaid by the unidentified suspects onboard a service utility vehicle, 50 meters away from the house of Isabela Mayor Enrique Montilla III at Barangay Rumirang at around 7:40 am.

Canat was supposed to drop off Escoltura to his new assignment, but they stopped by the mayor’s house to get something from their companion there. Grande insisted that the victim was not detailed or connected to Mayor Montilla.

Grande said that the victim sustained a lone gunshot wound on the left side of his head and was rushed to a hospital in Bacolod City.

There were no recoveries of empty shells or slugs from the crime scene while, the two to 3 unidentified suspects, on board a black Fortuner, fled after the incident.

Grande said they have no lead on the suspects yet, but the police have the plate number of their vehicle.“We’re tracing the owner right now.”

The witnesses weren’t able to see the suspects because the windows of the car were tinted, he added.

Police have yet to establish a motive for the incident.

On Sunday, July 19, Grande replaced Senior Inspector Ramil Sarona as town police chief.

Sarona’s relief came 3 weeks after 5^th district Board Member Renato Malabor and his bodyguard Leody Jomilla were gunned outside a cockpit in Barangay Guintubhan, Isabela, June 28.

But Nacion insisted that the relief had nothing to do with the case of Malabor. He said Sarona was already overstaying as chief of Isabela police, having served there for two years and 4 months. “His relief was only part of the routine assignment.”

Sarona is now assigned to NOPPO headquarters in Bacolod City, while Grande’s previous assignment was in Kabankalan City Police Office as deputy chief.

Woman shot dead

Meanwhile, a 22-year-woman was killed after unidentified armed men attacked their house also in Isabela town on Sunday night, July 19.

Police identified the fatality as Eljen Sabanal of Barangay Riverside.

Initial police investigation indicated that the victim, along with live-in partner Ronald Ligan, was already sleeping when they were awakened by 10 unidentified men.

The armed suspects identified themselves as policemen who were about to conduct a raid.

The male victim was escorted outside before the suspects fired at the house, which hit the female victim. The suspects fled after the incident.

The female victim was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead upon arrival. She succumbed to gunshot wounds on her left breast.

Police are probing the incident. – Rappler.com