ROXAS City – A village councilman was shot to death in Barangay Cagay.
Onel Arandez of Barangay Punta Tabuc in this city died of gunshot wounds on the head and body, police said.
Arandez, a former drug surrenderer, was inside a repair shop when two of the three unidentified suspects wearing bonnets shot him around 8 a.m. on Jan. 7, said Master Sergeant Ramil Arcangeles, spokesperson of the Roxas City police station.
Arcangeles added three armed men alighted from a car while another suspect served as their driver.
One of the witnesses, repair shop technician Kelvin Tan said the assailants went inside his shop and told him to stand still.
“Gin hambalan ako nga indi ako mag-halin sa gina tindugan kag gin tupadan ako sang isa, kag nagpalupok saya sa atubang sang akon gina tindugan,” Tan told Panay News.
Armed with a .9mm-caliber pistol and a .45-caliber pistol, two suspects peppered Arandez with bullets, Tan said.
“Malapit lang si Arandez sa akon gina-tindugan,” he added.
Arandez was rushed to the Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital where the attending physician declared him “dead on arrival.”
Arcangeles said they have yet to identify the suspects and the motive in the incident. Arandez was included in the drug watch-list, Arcangeles added. Drug charges were filed against Arandez a few years ago, but the case was dismissed by the City Prosecutor’s Office due to technicality./PN
