ILOILO City – A senior citizen died while his son and another person sustained gunshot wounds in Barangay Sabang, Sibunag, Guimaras yesterday.
A dispute over a piece of rice land was believed to have triggered the shooting.
The suspect was a member of the Philippine Navy.
Roel Tan, 60, died of multiple gunshot wounds while being treated at the Dr. Catalino Gallego Nava Provincial Hospital in Guimaras.
His son Reagan, 33, was taken to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City for a gunshot wound on the waist. Rene Occenola, 53, was also there for wounds on the left thigh and left arm.
Sibunag police station chief Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Rosario Miranda identified the suspect as 29-year-old Jake Gersaniva of the Philippine Navy and assigned in Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan.
The shooting happened at around 12:30 a.m. during a chance meeting between the suspect and the Tan father and son in front of a store.
There was a heated argument, said Miranda.
A .45 pistol was used on the Tans.
Occenola who was nearby was hit, too.
“The Tans and the suspect were drunk,” said Miranda.
From what the Sibunag police so far gathered, the Gersaniva family and the Tan family had a dispute over a rice farm in Barangay Sabang.
“We are looking into this,” Miranda added.
Gersaniva was detained at the Sibunag police station following the shooting. He could not be reached for comment as of this writing.
Homicide and two counts of frustrated homicide could be the charges Gersaniva would be facing./PN
