BUENAVISTA, Bohol Mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol was shot dead inside a cockpit arena he owned in Barangay Asinan around 3 p.m. yesterday.
The 37-year-old local chief executive succumbed to two gunshot wounds in the head, said Chief Insp. Rully Lauron, the town police commander.
Lauron said they are looking into politics and personal conflict as possible motives behind the attack. Three men perpetrated the crime, two of whom were the gunmen and they were not wearing masks.
“Dili gyod to sila taga Buenavista. Wala’y nakaila sa witnesses (They’re not from Buenavista, none of the eyewitnesses could identify them),” he said, adding that the execution was done in a professional manner.
The police official said Tirol had reported to previous police chiefs about the death threats he had been receiving.
“Naay tawag, naa poy texts lang. Naa poy gipaagi lang sa kaila ang threat (There were threats through text, calls and those coursed through some acquaintances),” said Lauron, who was appointed as Buenavista police chief last month.
He asked Tirol’s friends and relatives if the mayor had divulged specific details of the threats, but they said the victim had not told them.
Lauron further said there were no reports that Tirol was involved in illegal activities, including drug trafficking. The cockpit, which has no security guards, has a permit to operate.
Bohol Provincial Police Office Director Angeles Geñorga instructed Lauron to pursue the assailants.
Tirol was sitting on the upper box of the arena. Two gunmen approached and shot him at close range. Witnesses heard at least three gunshots.
Lauron, in a phone interview, said Tirol was accompanied by his bodyguard before the shooting. But he sent the bodyguard away to buy something.
“He had no time to fight back,” Lauron said.
The two gunmen escaped on board a motorcycle driven by another man towards the town of Getafe.
Lauron said investigators found four empty shells of .45 pistol.
The victim was rushed to a public hospital in Inabanga town, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto told police in Camp Dagohoy to conduct a manhunt.
“We are calling for the people of Bohol to pray for Mayor Tirol and we extend our condolences to the family and the people of Buenavista. We should remain calm amidst this tragedy and let the authorities do the manhunt and investigation,” Chatto said.
He said the mayor had a solid support of the town’s people as far as his leadership is concerned.
The Tirols have been Buenavista’s leaders starting from when Tirol’s father, Leandro, served three terms as mayor. His mother also became a mayor.
“So, we can say that the Tirols had a political hold in Buenavista town,” Chatto said.
Chatto recalled that several years ago, Tirol confided to him that someone tried to shoot him inside the cockpit but missed.
“I instructed the police to track the record of the previous incident to find out if it was related to yesterday killing of the mayor,” Chatto said.
Chatto also said that Tirol is no longer with his old political party after taking oath as a member of a new political party.
“We worked closely because when the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Buenavista in 2013, we gave funds, both from the National Government and Provincial Government,” Chatto said. EOB
Tirol was the mayor of Buenavista that time.
In the 2016 national elections, Tirol ran for another term under the United Nationalist Alliance with Dave Duallo as his running mate. The duo won over their opponents from the Liberal Party. (KAL, EOB)