Cebu village chief, wife gunned down in Asturias town

CEBU, Philippines – Riding-in-tandem assailants shot dead Manguiao Barangay Captain Mario Tundag and his wife, Edna, in Asturias town on Tuesday, March 14.

Initial police reports from the Asturias Police Station said the still unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants had followed the couple for some time before drawing close to shoot them around 9 am.

The shooting occurred as the couple passed the Mayor Fabian Aguanta Asturias Central School along the national highway in Barangay Poblacion.

The Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) ordered immediate pursuit and urged cops in nearby towns to put up roadblocks to prevent the assailants from escaping.

In a statement, Cebu Congressman Pablo John Garcia urged the police to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the Asturias town killing. 

“The killers of Kap Mario and his wife must be brought to justice because not only is he a public official, the couple now leaves behind six orphaned children,” Garcia said.

In August 2017, at the height of then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, Cebu-based news outfits reported the arrest of Tundag and a councilman of Barangay Sta. Rita for illegal possession of guns, including a KG9 submachine gun and an Instagram pistol, ammunition.

Police said they also found a small pack of suspected shabu with the Sta. Rita councilman during the Asturias raid.

They claimed the two grassroots officials were alleged underlings of a local drug lord, according to SunStar Cebu.

The alleged drug lord was later killed in 2019 in Quezon City.

There was no further word about any complaint filed against Tundag and his companion. The PNP did not address past cases in announcing the March 14 killings. – Rappler.com