La Union pol’s security aide kills intruder

NAGUILIAN, La Union – Armed men barged into the home of this town’s vice mayor before dawn yesterday, but one of the politician’s security aides gunned down one of the intruders while responding policemen arrested two others.

Vice Mayor Reynaldo Flores, who previously served as Naguilian mayor for three terms, suspects that the incident was politically motivated.

Reports said Flores’ bodyguard Cleto Huliganga shot dead Mario Alcido, 28, as he, armed with a caliber .45 pistol, and his companions barged into the vice mayor’s residence in Barangay Natividad at around 4 a.m.

Responding lawmen collared two of Alcido’s companions, identified as Magno Menci and Bernard Alcido, as they tried to flee on board a Delica van. Their cohorts managed to escape.

Flores, together with the group of Mayor Abe Rimando, recently bolted the local chapter of the pro-administration Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) headed by former congressman Tomas Dumpit Sr. and joined the Nationalist People’s Coalition group of Gov. Manuel Ortega.

After yesterday’s incident, Flores requested the Explosive and Ordnance Division at Camp Florendo to check the surroundings of his residence for any explosives that could have been planted there.

Police were still investigating the incident, although probers initially theorized that the suspects belonged to the “Acetylene Gang.”