Hired guns suspected in Masbate slaying

Police are eyeing a group of guns-for-hire in the assassination of Masbate City Mayor Moises Espinosa Jr. on Friday.

A ranking Camp Crame source said authorities suspect that political opponents of the Espinosa family may have "imported" assassins from an armed group maintained by a Central Luzon politician.

"There’s no other motive in the killing but family and politics," the source said, adding that police are eyeing a political rival of the Espinosas in Masbate who is closely identified with the Central Luzon politician.

The Espinosas, who have been involved in Masbate politics since the 1920s, have been contending for many decades with the Kho and Fernandez families for political control of the island province.

At least three Espinosas – Rep. Moises Espinosa Sr., Rep. Tito Espinosa and the Masbate City mayor – have been killed in what authorities suspect to be political assassinations.

Moises Sr. was also assassinated on March 17, 1989 at Masbate airport, while his uncle, Tito Espinosa, also a congressman, was ambushed and killed at Batasan Road and Commonwealth Avenue near the House of Representatives in Quezon City on Feb. 27, 1995.

Moises Jr. was gunned down at 12:30 a.m. of Friday during a fiesta in the coastal barangay of Bantigue, some three kilometers from Masbate City.

Espinosa, 45, died three hours later while undergoing treatment at the Masbate Comprehensive Hospital. The two other people killed in the attack were identified as Fidela Marcos, 57, and Henry Regalado, 35.

The gunmen fled after the shooting as pandemonium broke loose inside the barangay dance hall, where Espinosa was attending a dance as a guest of honor at the fiesta.

Espinosa’s security men fired back at the gunmen, who were perched on an iron fence outside the dance hall, but they were unable to stop their escape.

Police investigators later found caliber. 45 and 9 mm shells at the crime scene. Witnesses said two gunmen fired their caliber .45 and 9 mm. pistols at Espinosa until he fell to the ground, causing people to stampede toward the exits.

Espinosa was just elected mayor in May over his political rival, Florencio Fernandez, a brother of slain Gov. Jolly Fernandez, who was also gunned down by assassins near his residence in 1989. The crime, like the killings of the Espinosas, remains unresolved.

Mario Espinosa, a brother of the mayor, said in a radio interview that the killing was "purely political in nature," but he did not elaborate.

Masbate Rep. Emilio Espinosa, an uncle of the victim, said his family is offering P1 million to anyone who can identify the gunmen.

Upon learning about Espinosa’s death, Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza ordered the relief of Masbate City police commander Superintendent Domingo Mendoza and Masbate provincial police director Superintendent Victor Leona.

"They will be replaced by police directors directly coming from four police headquarters in Legazpi (City)," Mendoza told reporters at Camp Crame in Quezon City the other day.

Leona will be replaced by Superintendent Antonio Interia.