School service operator killled

MANILA, Philippines - A school service operator, who once survived an earlier attempt on his life, was killed after a lone assailant fired at his vehicle on his way to pick up schoolchildren early morning yesterday in Quezon City.

Joel Lumabang Sr., 67, of Project 4, was dead on arrival at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center because of multiple gunshot wounds he sustained in the body.

Case investigator Police Officer 3 Jaime Jimena said Lumabang’s helper Leo Cortez was injured after being hit in his left thigh in the incident and brought to the same hospital. According to Jimena, the lone assailant was on board a motorcycle with a “for registration” plate. Witnesses said the gunman waited at the corner of Katipunan Road and Raja Matanda Street in Barangay Bayanihan where the killing happened just before 5 a.m.

Jimena said that when the yellow Isuzu school bus driven by Lumabang appeared along Katipunan Avenue, the suspect suddenly fired shots at the vehicle at the corner of Raja Matanda Street. He said the gunman immediately fled as Cortez got off the vehicle and started to run back to Lumabang’s house. With Lumabang’s son, Joel Jr., Cortez rushed his boss to the hospital.

Jimena said that the suspect could be the same assailant who attacked but failed to kill Lumabang on the morning of April 8 in Cubao, as Lumabang was on his way to pick up children for school.

On that day, Lumabang was with his wife when a man on a motorcycle fired at the school service and hit Lumabang in the neck. Lumabang survived after seeking treatment at a hospital.

Jimena said they have yet to determine the identity of the assailant and the motive behind the attack, noting that Lumabang’s family does not know of any enemies he may have had.         – With Dennis Carcamo