ILOILO City – The sister of slain drug lord Richard Prevendido, Barangay Captain Remia Prevendido Gregori of Bakhaw, Mandurriao district, was shot by armed men at her beach resort in Barangay Igcadlum, San Joaquin, Iloilo yesterday afternoon.
Gregori, a high-value target of the Mandurriao police in the campaign against illegal drugs, died of multiple gunshot wounds at the San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital with her aide, Analee Antipatria.
Gregori’s husband Bonifacio Sr. survived the attack but sustained a gunshot wound on a leg.
Between five to seven armed men barged into Gregori’s Crystal Beach Resort past 4 p.m., according to Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, Iloilo police provincial director.
The Gregoris were shot inside a room.
The armed men concealed their faces with bonnets, said Tayaba. They left after the shooting.
Responding policemen recovered spent bullet shells for M16 rifles.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 described Gregori’s Barangay Bakhaw as the go-to place of drug pushers and users but the village chief shrugged off the tag.
Tayaba declined to speculate on the assassins’ motives but he believed the attack was planned.
“The victim appeared to have been placed under surveillance. The armed men seemed certain of her location,” he said. “We are still conducting an investigation. I already directed my men to coordinate with resort employees to get more information.”
Despite facing illegal drug issues, Gregori sought reelection in last month’s barangay polls and won.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod previously investigated Gregori for alleged links to illegal drugs.
“Our barangay has always been peaceful,” Gregori insisted.
On Sept. 18, 2017 Gregori voluntarily presented herself to the Mandurriao police station for police profiling although she insisted she was not involved in illegal drugs.
Surprisingly, she was not in the drug list that PDEA’s central office made public two weeks before the May 14 barangay election.
In a statement after her reelection, Gregori said she was thankful to the people of Barangay Bakhaw.
“They continue to trust me despite the issues I face,” she said.
Her brother Richard, the No. 1 high-value drug target of the Police Regional Office 6 and PDEA-6, was killed in a shootout with policemen in Barangay Balabago, Jaro district on Sept. 1, 2017.
Two weeks after she presented herself to the Mandurriao police station September last year, Gregori denied she sheltered her fugitive brother.
Though it suspected Gregori of helping Prevendido, PDEA-6 admitted it did not have “direct evidence” against her.
No witnesses were brave enough to come out against Gregori, said then PDEA deputy regional director Levi Ortiz.
March last year, Ortiz and his men tried to enter the barangay captain’s house but she refused to let them in. PDEA-6 did not have a search warrant.
What PDEA had was a text message from someone scared to testify, lamented Ortiz.
“We have no direct evidence that could prove Gregori is protecting her brother that’s why we could not file a criminal case against her. Pero hindi tayo bibitiw hangang hindi natin siya ma-pin down,” Ortiz told Panay News last year.
After Gregori was reelected last month, PDEA -6 said such won’t stop it from monitoring her activities.
“Ginagalang naman natin ang pagkapanalo niya. Pero ma-assure namin sa publiko na hindi titigil ang investigation,” said Director Wardley Getalla./PN
