THE Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) now have a person of interest in the investigation on the shooting of an outgoing barangay councilman of Calamba.
CCPO Director Joel Doria said that an eyewitness told investigators that the unidentified gunman loitered a few meters away from Calamba Barangay Councilor Hildibrandro Ygonia’s house in Sitio Mahayahay before he shot him and wounded another resident.
“There were many witnesses who saw the gunman when he shot the victim. The shooter reportedly didn’t wear a bonnet or helmet to hide his features. We’re also checking closed-circuit television cameras in the area,” Doria said.
The city director said that police are looking into two angles; one is that the shooting was work-related because the councilor was an active supporter of the police’s anti-drug campaign. A personal grudge is also being considered.
Ygonia remained in the hospital recuperating from a gunshot wound on his jaw, Doria said yesterday.
The councilman was shot on A. Lopez St. last Friday afternoon.
Although this is not the first time an attack against an elected official of Barangay Calamba has happened, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he has no directive to the police.
He said he will leave the investigation to the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Central Visayas.
“No (directive). NBI is being asked to investigate. All medical aid (for Ygonia) has started,” he said in a text message.
Ygonia is the second barangay councilor of Calamba who claimed to have received death threats.
Last Feb. 24, two of San Fernando Funeral Parlor’s hearses were damaged when two unidentified gunmen strafed the vehicles. Village councilman Richard Buscaino owns the funeral parlor. The councilman’s vehicle was also strafed on Katipunan St., near his funeral parlor, last March. (JOB, RTF)