Sunday, December 02, 2007 Chief arrested on his first day
A REELECTED barangay chief in Toledo City was arrested after allegedly ordering a supporter to fire at a group that included a man he argued with Friday night.
Ruel Rosalita, 29, suffered a gunshot wound in the left portion of his neck after Junel Aurita allegedly shot him.
The incident happened shortly after Sagay Barangay Captain Ronnie Mendez, 49, officially started another term.
Initial investigation by a police team led by SPO2 Larry Espili showed that Mendez threw a party in Sitio Centro after taking his oath of office last Friday.
Around 7 p.m., an argument erupted between him and Roy Langamon, a known supporter of his political opponent, who filed an election protest after the Oct. 29 elections.
Toledo Police Chief Leodegardo Acebedo said that in the heat of the exchange, Mendez ordered one of his men to shoot Langamon.
Aurita missed Langamon but hit Rosalita, who had to be rushed to a private hospital in Cebu city.
Policemen failed to arrest Aurita at the crime scene because Mendez had him hide in his house.
But Mendez and Aurita went back and claimed that it was Langamon’s group that stirred up trouble.
“They went back because they heard that things have not died down yet,” Acebedo told Sun.Star Superbalita in Cebuano.
Mendez and Aurita were taken to the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory yesterday for a paraffin or gunpowder residue test.
In the northern town of Medellin that same day, 64-year-old Alfredo Balante suffered several stab wounds after one Roy Calbo attacked him with a knife.
Authorities said the victim was walking towards a store around 5 p.m. to buy some cigarettes when Calbo appeared out of nowhere and stabbed him repeatedly.
Balante was rushed to the Severo Verallo District Hospital in nearby Bogo town, while Calbo managed to evade policemen.
The police said that a grudge prompted the attack, after learning that Balante and Calbo had past issues. (JGA/DRT of Superbalita)
