MANILA, Philippines – Vice Mayor Wendy Joy Buquing of Supiden, La Union, apparently survived the attack that killed all the other people with her after her husband,  Supiden Mayor Alexander Buquing, “shielded” her from bullets, police said on Tuesday, October 2.

Bangar town top cop Chief Inspector Cirilo Butigan told Rappler in a phone interview on Tuesday that Vice Mayor Buquing might have been killed too, were it not for Mayor Buquing who acted as her “body shield” as the suspects peppered them with bullets as their vehicle passed through Bangar town on Monday, October 1.

“Kaya mukhang wounded sa katawan si Vice Mayor noong una, duguan siya kasi dinaganan siya ni Mayor (The reason why the Vice Mayor looked as if she sustained body wounds at first, was because the Mayor shielded her),” Butigan said.

He added that Vice Mayor Buqing “managed to get up” after the attack.

Butigan had earlier announced that the Vice Mayor suffered gunshot wounds to her body based on initial reports handed to him by cops on the ground. Later, he clarified that she only had head abrasions and a wound on her left hand.

Vice Mayor Buquing has been confined at the Lorma Medical Center in San Fernando City in La Union, for further treatment.

Aside from the mayor, others killed in the attack were the mayor’s driver Boni Depdepen, and his police guard Police Officer II Rolando Juanbe.

The Vice Mayor will replace her husband as Supiden mayor.

Mayor Buquing is the 12th mayor killed since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in July 2016. – Rappler.com