Caloocan kagawad, driver gunned down

MANILA, Philippines - A barangay councilman was ambushed and killed in front of his constituents in Caloocan City yesterday morning.

Barangay 12 kagawad Conrado Cruz stepped out of his car in front of the barangay hall along Bangay-ngay street just before 9 a.m. when four unidentified men shot him and his driver, Jonathan Gonzales.

Cruz is the ninth barangay official killed in Caloocan since April. No arrests have been made.

Footage from closed-circuit television cameras in the area showed the gunmen had been positioned beside the barangay hall since 8:30 a.m., waiting for Cruz to arrive.

Cruz was shot several times and died at the scene. The footage showed one of the gunmen shooting him as he lay sprawled on the pavement.

The assailants then strafed the vehicle, hitting Gonzales. He was rushed to the Caloocan City Medical Center but died while being treated.

The assailants fled on foot toward Libis Talisay.

Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan rushed to the scene a few minutes after the incident.

“This is a deplorable act of those evils who chose to pay the services of hired guns rather than go through the legal process of settling differences,” he said.

Politics and money

Cruz’s wife was overheard shouting in front of her slain husband that, “he was killed because he did not want to sign the slated budget proposal of the council.”

Barangay 12 chairman Alfredo Dacles confirmed that Cruz was set to attend the budget session. 

Dacles said that Cruz had a pending case for 19 counts of malversation at the Caloocan Regional Trial Court Branch 126, which were “filed during the time of mayor Rey Malonzo and he was still a kagawad.”

Cruz was chairman of his barangay from the time of Macario Asistio Jr. up to Malonzo. In the 2010 elections, Cruz intended to run again but was deemed overstaying, and decided to step down as chairman. His wife ran for the top position but was beaten by Dacles.

A source told The STAR that Cruz and other barangay officials had been quarreling over the budget, which he had repeatedly refused to sign.

He said the Cruz family owned several properties in the barangay. “Maybe he was against some projects, that’s why he was reluctant to cooperate,” the source said. 

Arcinas said the victim must have “incurred the ire of so many people because he had been in politics for such a long period of time.”

He said politics is among the motives for Cruz's murder, but they are also considering other possible motives.

Witnesses refused to talk, but Arcinas said the surveillance footage would be used to make computer-generated images of Cruz’s killers.