Calbayog City mayor shot dead

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines - — Unidentified men shot dead Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo S. Uy, and wounded Samar Provincial Board Member Eunice Babalcon during a town fiesta celebration program in the gymnasium of Hinabangan, Samar, some 50 kilometers west of here around 9:30 p.m. the other night.

Samar PNP provincial director Senior Supt. Ronald Macapagal told The FREEMAN while on his way to supervise the responding policemen that Uy, 59, expired at the Divine Word Hospital based in this city about 2:30 a.m. yesterday from a lone bullet hitting the side of his abdomen, while Babalcon was shot in the right shoulder.

Both victims were hit by the same bullet which struck Babalcon first before hitting Uy.

Babalcon, daughter of Paranas, Samar, Mayor Felix Babalcon, is already out of danger.

Macapagal said the responding policemen recovered a live .45 cal. round at the crime scene and two empty shells.They estimated the assailants were just 10 to 12 meters away from the victim when they fired.

“Until now wala pa tayong mga suspects, though it’s the PNP Regional Office 8 who will create a task force that will investigate the recent killing in Samar,” Macapagal said.

Calbiga, Samar, Mayor Boy Latorre who is also the president of League of Municipalities of the Philippines Samar Chapter, is still under a state of shock because he said he was actually sitting beside Uy, but just went out to smoke and Babalcon occupied his seat just before the shooting took place.

 Latorre was among the five mayors accompanied by the victims and personally witnessed the said incident.

“We are still in a state of shock at this incident, this is very terrible, the program actually started with a doxology, when the attackers fired the gun, hinawakan ko agad si Mayor Uy while he was about to fall down, the mayor was saying ‘baka natamaan ang kidneyko’ at ‘malakas ang agas ng dugo’,” Latorre said

Latorre said their group just came from a speaking engagement of Uy in the Samar State University in Catbalogan City, and were set to go back to the city that evening for another appointment in the Samar National High School.

According to reports, police security escorts claimed they had a hard time pursuing the mayor’s attackers because the people inside the gym scampered in different directions after the shooting.

There was a recall petition filed against Samar Governor Sharee-Ann Tan Delos Santos and Vice Governor Stephen Tan last December, Uy officially announced his intention to run for governor with Babalcon as his running mate if the recall was granted by the Commission on Elections.

The Comelec en banc recently resolved the recall petition “sufficient” in form, but the camp of the governor filed a motion for reconsideration now pending for resolution.

Uy earlier claimed that he has been receiving death threats since before the 2010 elections prompting him to hire a lot of bodyguards.

Before he served for three consecutive terms as congressman of Samar 1st congressional district, Uy also served as mayor of Calbayog for three terms.

Gandara, Samar, Mayor Antonietto Cabueños, a known political ally of Uy, expressed his sorrow over the killing saying Uy was like a father and brother to him.

He admitted that he himself is among the targets of a plan which aims to summary execute him, Uy and his chief of staff Bong Montealto and two other officials in Samar whom he refused to reveal.

“I’ve been receiving death threats, that is why sometimes I can no longer go to my official appointment because of security reasons, as of now I don’t have any security escort despite request to the PNP regional office 8, I have only my driver and one bodyguard who is an employee of Gandara municipal government.I was also told by unidentified persons to lie low from the recall election move, they even offered me money but I refused,” Cabueños said.— (FREEMAN)