ILOILO – A pedicab driver was mauled in Calinog town on Good Friday – the suspect, a driver of mayoral candidate Francisco Calvo.
Edgar Lastimoso said he was driving his pedicab near the town’s bus terminal in Barangay Libot around 11 p.m. on April 19 when a group of unidentified persons chased him.
One of them beat Lastimoso.
Despite not knowing the name of his attacker, Lastimoso told the police that it was Calvo’s driver.
According to Staff Sergeant Jomaroe Lozada of the Calinog police station, the victim saw the face of the suspect.
Lastimoso – a resident of Barangay Poblacion Ilawod, Calinog – sustained bruises on the body. He received treatment at the Calinog District Hospital.
The motive behind the attack was yet unclear. Police investigation was ongoing.
Calvo, an incumbent councilor in Calinog, was arrested by the police for illegal possession of guns during a raid on Feb. 4.
Personnel of the municipal police station and the Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Provincial Intelligence Branch staged the raid in Calvo’s house at St. Vincent Subdivision, Barangay Libot, Calinog.
Among the recoveries were a .45-caliber pistol (serial number FC797728); an M-16 rifle (serial number RP 114964); 24 live bullets and 20 empty shells of a .45-caliber pistol; 30 live bullets and four magazines of an M16 rifle; a defective .22-caliber barrel rifle (serial number 19717); and a defective .25-caliber pistol.
Calvo, who has a quarry business, presented licenses for the M16 rifle and the .45-caliber pistol, which were returned to him after validation.
But the councilor failed to present the license of the other pistol. Calvo said the gun was owned by his father-in-law.
He added that he kept the defective gun because of “sentimental value.”
As for the barrel rifle, Calvo said it was owned by a friend who died before being able to take it back from him.
Calvo – who is running against fellow councilor Andro Gustilo and Calinog vice mayor Rene Hurtada – said the raid was politically motivated./PN
