Rep. Quintos’ police escort slain

Suspected New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas gunned down a police escort of Rep. Ricardo Quintos during a broad daylight ambush in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro yesterday, police said.

Police are investigating if the killing of SPO1 Louie Bayan was politically motivated since it happened on the third death anniversary of the slaying of Quintos’ two sons, Paul and Michael.

Chief Superintendent Lucas Managuelod, Southern Tagalog police director, said Bayan was shot dead with caliber .45 pistols and M-16 rifles as he emerged from his house in Mamburao at about 9 a.m.

Managuelod dispatched additional police personnel to conduct pursuit operations against the gunmen.

Quintos’ sons Paul and Michael were gunned down exactly three years ago yesterday, also in Mamburao, while attending the birthday party of a barangay captain associated with the Quintos family.

While the police believed that the killings were initiated by NPA guerrillas, the Quintos family claimed that the twin murders were politically motivated.

Rep. Quintos has been at odds with former Rep. Jose Villarosa, whose wife, Amelita, was declared winner in the 1998 congressional election. The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal recently unseated Amelita and installed Quintos.

Villarosa was among those charged for the murders of Quintos’ sons. — Christina Mendez