BFP exec survives gun attack in Sorsogon

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) survived an ambush in his hometown in Sorsogon Tuesday night.

Chief Inspector Renato Marcial, spokesman of the BFP-National Capital Region, said a bullet from a .45-caliber hit him in the lower left portion of his waist and exited.

Marcial was thankful that he was not badly hit in the ambush, which he believes could be connected to an investigation he initiated against another BFP official, who allegedly used spurious documents to be hired in the bureau.

Marcial, who served as director of BFP-Sorsogon prior to his appointment as BFP-NCR spokesman, was visiting his family in Sorsogon City when he was attacked at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in front of his house in Suarez Compound in Barangay Bibincahan.

He said he was unloading some things from the compartment of his vehicle when he heard a shot, which he initially thought was the sound of fireworks.

Seconds later, however, he felt some heat in his waist and saw blood oozing from the left side of his waist.

Marcial said he was rushed by his wife and relatives to the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital and was declared out of danger.

“The gunman could be a gun-for-hire,” said Marcial, adding that the New People’s Army in Sorsogon has denied anything to do with the attack.

Although the local police have yet to determine the motive behind the attack and identify the perpetrators, Marcial told The STAR that he has only one suspect in the attack which he said is definitely not related to his stint as former BFP-Sorsogon director but could have something to do with matters in the BFP in Metro Manila.

Marcial said he had submitted copies of documents against the BFP official to the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, who in turn ordered the BFP leadership to initiate an investigation.