BACOLOD City – There is no place for violence in this city, according to the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Councilors have passed a resolution condemning the ambush of Councilor Ricardo “Cano” Tan and wife Anita.
They urged residents to “have the courage to stand against violence and condemn it to the highest degree.”
“It was the first time in the city of Bacolod that such a horrifying incident [happened to] a public official,” said Councilor Caesar Distrito, author of the resolution.
“To [prevent] it from happening again, we appeal to all our law enforcers once again to capture the perpetrators … give justice to the victims and ensure each of us that we are still safe to serve our people,” he said.
The Tans were ambushed while on their way home from the family-owned Campuestuhan Highland Resort in Barangay Cabatanga, Talisay City, Negros Occidental on Dec. 14.
They were on board their Nissan Patrol sport utility vehicle – Tan was driving – when waylaid and peppered with bullets by three unidentified armed men aboard a small white wagon in Barangay Alangilan here, police said.
Bullets missed Tan and his wife but the couple were wounded by the shards of their broken windshield.
“Violence … has no place in our beloved city,” Distrito said. “There is no justification for anyone to take or attempt [to take] the life of another.”
The city council called on the Bacolod City Police Office, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and other law enforcement agencies to exert all efforts to solve the crime as soon as possible.
“Such horrible incident created alarm and panic [among] residents and public officials,” said the city council.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental vice governor Eugenio Jose Lacson urged the authorities to step up security measures in light of recent attacks on local officials.
“[They] should take these incidents seriously,” Lacson said. “We are getting attention from people outside of the province the wrong way.”
Other recent attacks included the killing of Nelson Ligaya, village chief of Barangay 35, and the death of Senior Inspector Porferio Gabuya Jr., deputy chief of police in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, said Lacson.
“The victims were helpless,” Lacson said. “Obviously they did not expect such attacks were possible.”/PN
