Luckily, Boyet Pasete, Javier’s liaison officer who was driving the vehicle, survived the shooting. Police found only one bullet hole in the vehicle.
Pasete told probers that he was on his way home from Culasi town when he passed by a group of six men who were walking in the same direction.
He then noticed that one of the men pulled out a gun and fired at the vehicle, hitting the hood’s right portion.
Berlison Mayor Christopher Piccio believes that Javier was the target of the attack, saying that they have received information about threats to the lawmaker and six other mayors, including him.
"There are people on the provincial level who are tolerating the presence of armed men…who were non-existent in the province before," he said in a radio interview. – Leo Solinap