Cagayan lawmaker's aide shot dead

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – An aide of Cagayan third district Rep. Randolph Ting, whose father survived a slay try last month, was killed by a lone gunman last Friday night despite the ongoing firearms ban in the province.

Superintendent Pedro Martires, Tuguegarao City police chief, said the victim, Michael Cuaresma Panaligan, 36, was driving his motorcycle when he was gunned down at the boundary of Barangays Buntun and Cataggaman in Tuguegarao.

Panaligan was one of Ting’s aides at his congressional office in Tuguegarao, the capital city of Cagayan and regional government center of Cagayan Valley. 

The killing came in the wake of a Camp Crame-imposed gun ban, which took effect two days after the shooting of Ting’s father, Mayor Delfin Ting, in front of the family-owned Hotel Delfino in the city’s downtown area last Nov. 15. 

Panaligan was shot in the right chest with a still unknown caliber.

“It seems that the gunman waited for him to pass by,” Martires said.

Investigation showed that the motive could be personal. “We already have identified a suspect,” said Martires, who declined to name him pending the filing of murder charges possibly today. 

“It seemed to have been caused by a grudge,” said Rep. Ting whose father had just recovered from a bullet wound in the cheek. 

Earlier, Ting said the attempt on his father’s life had something to do with politics.