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Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Sta. Rosa mayor, police-escort killed
MANILA -- The mayor of Sta. Rosa City in Laguna and his bodyguard were shot dead by suspected communist guerillas inside the Sta. Rosa City Hall Tuesday morning, police said.
Mayor Leon Arcillas of Santa Rosa, 40 kilometers south of Manila, suffered gunshot wounds in the head, nape and belly and died in a hospital in Biñan, Laguna.
One of his police escorts, Police Officer 2 Erwin Rivera, also was killed, and another was seriously wounded. Rivera, a member of the police's Special Action Force, died from a bullet wound to the head.
National police chief Arturo Lomibao ordered a massive hunt for the killers, who fled on foot after shooting Arcillas and his bodyguards as they walked down a second-floor hallway in the Santa Rosa City Hall.
Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco, head of the police Special Action Force, said Arcillas had sought police protection after receiving death threats from communist New People's Army rebels, who were apparently angered by the death of a labor group member during a police-aided demolition of illegal structures in the city.
Officials said one of the mayor's escorts fired back at the assailants, but they quickly blended in with a crowd and escaped.
It was unclear how many were involved in the attack. The mayor's secretary, Sony Cerdena, quoted witnesses as saying there were at least three assailants, including a woman.
Another bodyguard of Arcillas, PO2 Nonoy Almendras, was injured in the incident. He sustained gunshot wounds in the chest and lip and is in critical condition at the hospital.
The mayor had just finished officiating a mass wedding at the second floor of the City Hall building and was about to leave when the assailants, among them a woman, approached him.
A man, described by witnesses to be about 30 years old and between 5'4" and 5'5" tall, fair-skinned and of medium built, shot the mayor thrice. The two other assassins fired at the mayor's bodyguards and his personal security men, hitting Rivera and Almendras.
PO1 Arnold Cuhayon, another security detail of Arcillas, said they shot it out with the gunmen, who managed to escape. He said they believed they were able to injure one of the assailants as evidenced by bloodstains along their escape path.
Cuhayon said they rushed the mayor and Almendras to the Perpetual Help Hospital. Arcillas died at 12:15 p.m. while Almendras was still in serious condition as of Tuesday night.
Police said they are looking into the possible involvement of the New People's Army (NPA) in the killing. Other motives are also being investigated, they said. (JFF)
(May 11, 2005 issue)
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