STAR stringer in Samar escapes slay try

BUTUAN CITY — A STAR correspondent in Catarman, Northern Samar narrowly escaped death when a lone gunman outside his home in Camille Subdivision, Catarman, Northern Samar fired at him as he was about to ride his motorcycle past 10 a.m. yesterday

In a telephone interview, STAR correspondent Eladio Perfecto, who is also publisher and editor-in-chief of the local newspaper, The Catarman Weekly Tribune, told The STAR that the gunman initially posed as a vendor sell ing fried bananas.

"But when I told him that I am not interested to buy, he pulled out a caliber .45 pistol and fire at me. The first volley of fire did not hit me while the second conked out, prompting him to immediately ran away," Perfecto claimed.

Superintendent Restituto Lim, Catarman police chief, immediately responded to the crime scene and conducted an investigation.

"But when I requested the cops for a security detail, they turned down my request since they still have to ask a permit from Superintendent Isaias Tonog, the PNP provincial director for Northern Samar," Perfecto said.

He described his attacker as 5’2" in height, of medium-built, wearing a white T-shirt, sporting a beard and armed with a caliber .45 pistol.

The Catarman police found the basket containing the fried bananas the victim was selling.

Perfecto has been a consistent anti-illegal gambling crusader of the illegal numbers game Suertres.