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Thursday, May 03, 2007
Mayoral bet gunned down outside poll office
By Jovy S. Taghoy
CEBU CITY -- A mayoral candidate in the northern town of Sta. Fe in Bantayan Island, Cebu was shot dead some five meters away from the doorstep of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office inside the Capitol compound Wednesday morning.
The death of mayoral candidate and incumbent Sta. Fe Councilor Rogelio Ilustrisimo Sr. is considered the first violent incident involving a political candidate in Cebu.
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A cartographic sketch of the gunman is already out but the police have no suspect yet.
They believe it was a professional hit, though. The gunman was on foot and just ran after shooting Ilustrisimo about 10:40 a.m. The Comelec and the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) will observe status quo in Sta. Fe town until investigation results prove Ilustrisimo’s killing is election-related.
“We have asked our election officers to submit their peace and order reports and, from there, we will base our recommendation to the Comelec en banc,” Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Castillano told reporters after their command conference Wednesday afternoon.
But CPPO Acting Director Carmelo Valmoria said they will deploy additional policemen to Sta. Fe to augment the team assigned to the Sub-Task Group Bantayan Island. Ilustrisimo died on the spot, falling face down to the ground.
He had four gunshot wounds in his nape and forehead. Ilustrisimo, together with his son incumbent Sta. Fe Mayor Roger Ilustrisimo, Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Simaco Labata, and an aide of the Ilustrisimos just came from a disqualification hearing inside the Comelec provincial office when the attack happened.
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Sketch shows the escape route of the gunman who bumped into a passing tricycle, dropping his cap, dark glasses, and lighter. (Sketch by Rio Villegas of Sun.Star Cebu)
Domingo Zaspa, the rival of Ilustrisimo who filed the disqualification case, denied any hand in the killing. He said he was already riding a taxi when he learned about the fatal shooting.
In an interview with GMA 7 broadcaster and Sun.Star Cebu columnist Bobby Nalzaro, Zaspa said he is ready to face any investigation, adding that he cannot be involved in the killing because Ilustrisimo was a cousin and an elder of the Seventh-Day Adventist.
Two policemen were assigned to secure Ilustrisimo. But on Wednesday, the mayoral candidate reportedly went without his security escorts.
Superintendent Erson Digal, head of the subtask force in Bantayan Island, said policemen are assigned to secure the three mayoralty candidates in Sta. Fe.
Police Regional Office 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. created Task Force Ilustrisimo comprising the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), CPPO and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7. CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador was designated as the task force head.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 is not taking part in the investigation, though. Although the NBI also went to the crime scene, Executive Officer Ernesto Macabare said this was for the perusal of their superiors in Manila. The NBI doesn’t normally take part in probes unless asked to do so by a complaining party.
Castillano told reporters that the shooting occurred at 10:40 a.m., shortly after the clarificatory hearing on the disqualification petition Zaspa filed against the Ilustrisimo father and son. Zaspa and his legal counsel also showed up at the hearing.
Castillano said the Ilustrisimos and their companions were waiting outside the Comelec office while their lawyer Rufino Remoreras Jr. went inside to submit a copy of their response.
The election officer later heard two gunshots. He rushed outside and found Ilustrisimo lying on the ground. Castillano immediately called up Comendador.
Remoreras, in a brief interview with Sun.Star Cebu, said it was less than one minute when he left the Ilustrisimos when two shots rang out. Castillano and Remoreras said the hearing went well with no oral arguments from both parties.
Inspector Mario Monilar, Homicide Section chief, said that based on the information he gathered from Mayor Ilustrisimo, the elder Ilustrisimo was talking with Labata when the first shot was fired.
Monilar said Labata went inside the Comelec office while Mayor Ilustrisimo and the aide ran towards the legislative building and took refuge at the office of Provincial Board Member Jose Ma. Gastardo.
Reports said some policemen even chased Mayor Ilustrisimo and the aide, who were mistaken as the perpetrators. Monilar said because the incident happened so fast, Mayor Ilustrisimo failed to get a close look at the gunman.
Assessing the way the killing was carried out, Monilar and CPPO Director Valmoria said it was executed by a professional.
“The fact that the crime was committed inside the Capitol compound, which is well guarded, indicates that the killer is a professional,” Monilar said. Task Force Hope (honest, orderly and peaceful elections) Commander Lani-O Nerez said police in Sta. Fe was on full alert since Wednesday morning, immediately after the fatal shooting.
Nerez said they will not make any recommendation until they can sit down with Comelec officials after the investigation on the incident is completed.
“We have to coordinate with Comelec on whether we will change Sta. Fe’s status as an area of concern but right now, we are on full alert there because we can’t predict what will happen next after this morning’s incident. We have enough personnel to secure the town,” Nerez told reporters.
During the commission en banc meeting with all regional election directors in Manila Wednesday, the shooting of Ilustrisimo was brought up, Comelec 7 Director Rene Buac said.
But like the local poll officials, Buac and Comelec commissioner-in-charge for Central Visayas Resureccion Borra did not make any recommendation until they receive a report from the election officers here.
Monilar said the two empty shells and the two slugs for a .45 caliber pistol found at the crime scene were sent for a ballistic test to determine if these came from the same handgun.
The first empty shell was found by personnel from the Scene of the Crime Operation 7 about five meters away from Ilustrisimo Sr.’s body while the other empty shell was recovered near the victim’s body. One slug was found in Ilustrisimo Sr.’s forehead. The other was found inside a parked car nearby. The right passenger door of the car was damaged.
Two tricycle drivers, who said they spotted the perpetrator, helped the Homicide Section in coming up with a cartographic sketch.
The witnesses, who were waiting for passengers along Villalon Drive, said they saw the gunman jump from the concrete wall of the Capitol and ran towards Escario St. The assailant even bumped one of the drivers. He also dropped his sunglasses, a lighter and his cigarettes.
Monilar said this backs up the information they received that the gunman ran towards a burnt area of the CFI building and jumped from a shoulder-height concrete wall to Villalon Drive.
But there were also reports that the perpetrator exited through the gate near the legislative building at the back of Palace of Justice.
“This is the first violent case in Cebu City, but this is not related to the political situation in Cebu City,” Comendador said.
Valmoria, on the other hand, said the killing was an isolated case although the alert level in Sta. Fe was upgraded to full alert “to preempt untoward incidents because some supporters might react.”
Valmoria appealed to the supporters of the Ilustrisimos to remain calm and not resort to violence. Sta. Fe Election Officer Maria Neriza Gigante made the same appeal. (Sun.Star Cebu/With KNR/NRC/JECT of Superbalita)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (May 3, 2007 issue)
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