Businessman gunned down

MANILA, Philippines - A businessman who was also a bodyguard of the late Malabon mayor Canuto Oreta was killed in an ambush in front of his house yesterday morning.

Alejandro Aquino, 48, died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds around 8:40 a.m. after unidentified assailants shot him as he was driving his motorcycle to his house on Liwayway street.

A source said as many as four men were seen waiting for the victim for nearly an hour before the ambush.

The assailants took Aquino’s bag containing an undetermined amount of money and his gun before fleeing.

Malabon public information chief Bong Padua said Aquino served as a bodyguard of Oreta “but it was only for a short period because the mayor died in 2012 and he focused on his business.”

However, the same source said Aquino was a reportedly “collector” at the Malabon fish port and could be one of the motives for his murder.