MANILA, Philippines (4th UPDATE) – Alexander “Alan” Buquing, the mayor of Sudipen town in La Union, was shot dead on Monday, October 1. He was 50. 

At around 6:40 pm, Buquing was on the way home to his town with his wife, Vice Mayor Wendy Joy Buquing, his driver Boni Depdepen, and his police guard Police Officer II Rolando Juanbe. 

They passed by neighboring town Bangar, in Barangay Cadapli, onboard a black Toyota Hilux when a gunman riding a white pick-up came close and shot at them multiple times.

According to the police report, Mayor Buquing and his bodyguard Juanbe were rushed by first responders to the Ilocos Sur District Hospital in nearby Tagudin town, while Vice Mayor Buquing and driver Depdepen were carried by an ambulance to the Lorma Medical Center in San Fernando City in La Union.

Mayor Buquing, his driver, and his bodyguard were declared dead on arrival, said Bangar police head Chief Inspector Cirilo Butigan, while Vice Mayor Buquing survived the attack.

“Nagre-recover na si Ma’am,” said Butigan. (Ma’am is already recovering.)

Not all were rushed to the Ilocos Sur District Hospital, Butigan said, because the first responders could only carry two, and Mayor Buquing and police guard Juanbe needed the urgent medical response.

Vice Mayor Buquing and driver Depdepen, meanwhile, supposedly were better off treated inside the private hospital in San Fernando City, and that its ambulance came first after the government responders.

According to Butigan, bullets hit Vice Mayor Buquing in the body, and her head had abrasions.

Butigan said they have yet to determine the motives behind the killing. – Rappler.com