Caloocan offers P.1 M for kagawad’s killers

MANILA, Philippines - Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan yesterday offered P100,000 for any information that would lead to the capture of the persons who killed a barangay councilman last Tuesday.

The Caloocan police came out with a computer-generated image of one of the four men who gunned down Barangay 12 kagawad Conrado Cruz and his driver, Jonathan Gonzales.

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

Cruz, known in Caloocan as “Kapitan Bebot,” had just stepped out of his vehicle in front of the barangay hall shortly before 9 a.m. to attend a budget session when the men attacked him.

Cruz was one of the longest serving barangay chairmen in Caloocan, having served from the time of mayor Macario Asistio Jr. up to Enrico Echeverri.

Malapitan ordered Caloocan police chief Senior Superintendent Ariel Arcinas “to step up the investigation and put the culprits behind bars.”

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

He was shot several times and died at the scene.

The footage showed one of the assailants shooting Cruz as he lay sprawled on the pavement.

The assailants strafed the vehicle, hitting Gonzales, died while being treated at the Caloocan City Medical Center.