ILOILO City – A former barangay kagawad of Bakhaw, Mandurriao district here was shot by a motorcycle-riding gunman in Barangay Poblacion, Leganes, Iloilo yesterday afternoon.
Sixty-one-year-old Virgilio Soledad, also a suspected member of the Prevendido drug group, died at the Metro Iloilo Hospital and Medical Center in BarangayTagbak, Jaro district of gunshot wounds on the head and body.
The gunman had five backups or lookouts that were also on motorcycles, according to Police Staff Sergeant Leo Barnuevo of the Leganes police station.
Soledad, who was driving a motorcycle, was attacked at around 2:30 p.m. as he was going back to the city from Pototan, Iloilo.
He was apparently being trailed by the six motorcycle riders, said Barnuevo.
Three of the riders flagged the victim down then the gunman fired at him.
All the six riders then proceeded toward Zarraga town. They were all wearing helmets.
Soledad was jailed for illegal drugs and managed to secure his freedom just two months ago via plea bargaining, said Barnuevo.
The Leganes police has no suspect yet.
“We are trying to look for witnesses or security camera footages of the broad daylight shooting,” said Barnuevo.
Soledad was reporting to the Iloilo District Jail in Pototan every Thursday as part of his drug rehabilitation in relation to his plea bargain.
“The gunmen likely had knowledge of his Thursday itinerary,” said Barnuevo.
Barangay Bakhaw has long been considered a haven of illegal drugs by the police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. It is the home barangay of drug lord Richard Prevendido who died in a shootout with policemen on Sept. 1, 2017.
The barangay captain of Bakhaw that time was a sister of Prevendido, Remia Prevendido Gregori whom gunmen riddled with bullets in June 2018 in San Joaquin, Iloilo.
Responding Leganes policemen yesterday recovered from the crime scene empty bullet shells of a .45 pistol./PN
