Driver survives ‘salvage’ attempt

CALAMBA CITY — A jeepney driver survived an attempt to "salvage" (summarily execute) him, reportedly because he had refused to join a kidnapping syndicate allegedly led by a barangay official here.

Emilio Magbanua, 34, a resident of Barangay Bagong Kalsada, was walking on his way home last Sunday night when a barangay patrol car stopped by him.

The patrol car’s occupants, he recounted, shoved him inside and handcuffed him. He was then taken to a secluded portion of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños where he was shot in the head, neck and abdomen.

Magbanua said he pretended to be dead until a passerby saw him and took him to the UP hospital. He was transferred to another hospital for fear that his attackers might finish him off.