MANILA – Separate shooting incidents in Batangas province on Saturday evening killed a Lipa City village councilor and injured a former vice mayor of Santo Tomas town.
The twin shootings came two weeks after Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan City in the same province was assassinated while attending a flag-raising ceremony at their city hall.
Two unidentified shooters on board a motorcycle repeatedly fired at Romel Cuento Luancing of Barangay Antipolo del Sur, Lipa City at around 6:35 p.m. in their village, police said.
Luancing was hit on various parts of the body. He was rushed to the NL Villa hospital but was pronounced “dead on arrival,” said Senior Inspector Hazel Luma-ang Suarez, public information officer of the Batangas Police Provincial Office.
Nearby police officers attempted to chase the shooters, who fled toward Padre Garcia town, Suarez added.
On the other hand former Santo Tomas vice mayor Ferdinand Ramos was fired upon by an unidentified suspect while on his way home at around 7:25 p.m. in Barangay II (Poblacion) in the town.
Ramos sustained a gunshot wound on the left face. He was rushed to the Saint Cabrini Hospital for treatment.
Citing witnesses, police said the shooter casually walked away after the incident.
Investigators were still trying to determine the motives in the twin shootings as of this writing.
Ramos was vice mayor of Santo Tomas from 2013 to 2016. He lost his re-election bid in 2016. It was unclear if he was planning to run in the mid-term elections next year./PN
