Labor leader, intel officer hurt in Imus shootout

Camp Vicente Lim, Laguna — A labor leader and a police intelligence officer were critically wounded in a shooting incident in Imus town yesterday morning.

In a message sent to this reporter, Emmanuel Asuncion, spokesman of the Workers’ Assistance Center Inc. (WAC), a non-government organization based in Rosario, Cavite, said labor leader Gerardo Cristobal was seriously wounded when three ski-mask wearing men waylaid him and his companion, Juliet Tayoto, in Barangay Anabu, Imus town at about 6 a.m. The two were on board a Toyota Corolla.

Asuncion claimed that the gunmen were members of the intelligence unit of the Imus police led by one SPO1 Romeo Lara.

Asuncion said Cristobal was able to retaliate and shot Lara in the head and shoulder.

Superintendent Rodel Sermonia, intelligence chief of the Cavite police, gave a conflicting version of the incident.

Sermonia said Lara and his companions were cruising Aguinaldo Highway toward Barangay Anabu when they were shot from behind by Cristobal’s group, hitting Lara in the neck.

Sermonia said Lara returned fire, hitting Cristobal in the thigh.

Cristobal, according to Sermonia, was rushed to Pilar Hospital in Imus, where Lara was brought, too.

Asked why Cristobal was carrying a firearm, Asuncion said the labor leader has received death threats.