Son of Liburon barangay secretary shot dead

CEBU, Philippines – The 16-year-old son of a barangay secretary in Liburon, Carcar was shot to death by an unknown assailant in sitio Calindoy last Sunday dawn.

The victim identified as Rogelio Amistad is the son of Jona Amistad who works as barangay secretary of Liburon.

SPO4 Reuben Renes of the Carcar City Police Station said that he cannot give specific details yet regarding the real motive of the killing as their operatives are still into the conduct of a thorough investigation on the case.

Renes said that what he can divulge, to date, is based on the initial investigation the responding policemen had conducted wherein they learned that the victim attended a benefit dance in the said place for a fiesta celebration prior to the shooting.

According to accounts of witnesses, the victim left the dance floor and went out of the gate of the dance hall when a man, whose face was covered with a cloth, shot the minor on close range. The victim was hit at the back of his head, the bullet went through his eye.

He was declared dead on the spot because of the fatal gunshot wounds he sustained. After the incident, witnesses said, the assailant just walked away casually.

Witnesses believe that the perpetrator is not a resident of their place, as based on the height and built of the said assailant, nobody from their place was found to have matched the description given.

It was also learned that the assailant was just observing from outside of the dance hall. The victim was dancing with an unknown girl prior to the incident. As soon as Rogelio went out of the gate, it was then that the man fired at him, witnesses added.

Further, it was learned that the benefit dance had no permit from the barangay. The officials of the barangay did not issue the organizers a permit because of the “consecutive bloody incidents that happened in their place for every time a benefit dance is held”.

Police officers who investigated the case earlier said that they are looking into the angle of rivalry between groups of teenagers in the area. Still, they are open to the possibility that the shooting might have something to do with the girl the victim had danced with prior to the incident. – Christopher Gabriel C. Bonjoc/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)