La Union town treasurer killed
SAN FERNANDO, La Union – Police are eyeing politics behind the gunslaying of the municipal treasurer of Bauang, La Union, who was attacked in front of her house yesterday morning.
Sources said the victim, Felicidad Picar, being the town treasurer, played a vital role in the May 14 elections, having served in the municipal board of canvassers.
Senior Superintendent Franklin Bucayu, provincial police director, said Picar had just come out of her house in Barangay Santiago on her way to work at the town hall at
Witnesses said Orduna even picked up the slug before casually walking away from the crime scene and trying to make a call using his cellular phone.
Superintendent Pete Ubaldo, Bauang police chief, said some residents tried to chase and arrest Orduna, but he threatened to shoot them.
The timely arrival of policemen led to Orduna’s arrest in Barangay Urayong, about two kilometers away from the crime scene. Police seized a caliber .45 pistol from him, but failed to recover his cellphone.
When he was arrested, Orduna, sources told The STAR, initially introduced himself as one Rogelio Albay, but an intelligence officer later established his true identity.
“Orduna even claimed that he was just about to rob (Picar),” said one of the sources, who noted that he was tagged in the killing of a school principal in early 2006 and in the slay try on a municipal official in Agoo, La Union.
Probers are pursuing the political angle in Picar’s killing as she had been receiving death threats apparently in connection with her being a member of the board of canvassers, the source said.
“There is an ongoing election protest against the victory of Mayor Bobby de Guzman, so we are looking for information on the killing that would hopefully lead us to the mastermind,” said a veteran investigator.
Aside from De Guzman, four others ran for Bauang mayor, including his cousin Annabelle de Guzman and Rey Dulay. – With Myds Supnad and Artemio Dumlao
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