Negros mayor bet shot dead

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – A former mayor seeking a political comeback in Pulupandan town, an identified poll hot spot in Negros Occidental, was gunned down late Wednesday while he, together with his wife and granddaughter, was leaving the Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo City.

Luis Mondia Jr., 56, was shot three times with a caliber .45 pistol by a lone attacker as he was about to get into his parked vehicle beside the church, located some 150 meters away from the Jaro police station. 

Mondia was seeking the Pulupandan mayorship anew in the May polls, together with his sister, Gina Mondia-Villanueva, as running mate.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa directed the Directorate for Intelligence to determine if the killing was election-related. – Antonieta Lopez, Non Alquitran and Cecille Suerte Felipe