Nueva Ecija bet, 2 pals die in ambush

STO. DOMINGO, Nueva Ecija — A Lakas-NUCD woman candidate for councilor in this town and two of her companions died while five others were wounded when their three-vehicle convoy was sprayed with bullets by still unidentified men in Barangay San Agustin here at about midnight Saturday.

Chief Superintendent Enrique Galang, Central Luzon police director, said councilor candidate Naradel Monsalud and her driver, Gerry Lunas, died of gunshot wounds, while another companion, a certain Imelda Romero, succumbed to heart attack at the hospital where the ambush victims were brought.

Galang said Monsalud’s party had just come from a campaign sortie in a nearby barangay when they were waylaid in an unpopulated area in San Agustin.

Several M-16 and M-14 shells were found in the ambush site.

"Since there were no witnesses and the attack was carried out in darkness, we still have no idea who the suspects are and what their motives could be," Galang said.

"We are not even sure if (Monsalud) was the target," he added.

Although no province in Central Luzon has been declared an election hot spot, Galang said Tarlac City and 26 towns in the region have been classified as "areas of immediate concern" in the coming elections.

He said only the Bulacan towns of Angat and Doña Remedios Trinidad are considered "areas of immediate concern" due to the presence of communist rebels there.

Meanwhile, the communist faction Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan (RHB) denied yesterday any hand in the purported plan to ambush Mayor Jayson Sagum of San Luis, Pampanga last Friday.

RHB leader Red Olalia, in a statement, said the group which clashed with soldiers and policemen in San Luis, belonged to the New People’s Army (NPA).

Three suspected rebels were killed and a fourth one was captured in the encounter.

Fourth district Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc claimed the rebels were hired by Sagum’s political rivals.