Benguet councilor killed in ambush

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Tineg town councilor Rey Tandi, 39,  who had a colorful political life, was killed by ambushers right in his hometown Thursday.

Together with his brother, Roy, Tandi, who survived an ambush in 2007 by supposed New People's Army guerillas for reportedly “leading anti-insurgency drives" in the town, Rey was waylaid in Barangay Vera, Tineg town. 

Reports said the Tandi brothers were heading home aboard a motorcycle descending on a checkpoint when armed men opened fire with M16 assault rifles and 45 caliber pistols.

The councilor suffered bullet wounds on his chest while it was not immediately known where his brother was shot.

The town councilor was one of the controversial political figures in Tineg town local politics after figuring in political rivalries in the town spawning killings, shootings and family rivalries.

Before Christmas eve in 2010, Tandi accidentally shot dead his own daughter on the chest while he and his wife were grappling for a gun in a domestic fight.