Ecija election officer wounded in ambush

SAN LEONARDO, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – The election officer in Gapan City was wounded when motorcycle-riding men ambushed him along the national highway here Saturday afternoon.

Lawyer Arsenio Reyes Jr. sustained a gunshot wound in the left thigh but was pronounced out of danger in an undisclosed hospital in Cabanatuan City.

His companion, Boy Manuel, escaped unhurt.

Reyes had just come from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office at the Gapan City Hall compound and was driving his car on his way to Cabanatuan City when he was fired at along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Castellano here.

Reyes said he and Manuel initially thought the sound had come from a bottle that exploded. “Then I noticed there were two men who were shooting at us,” he said.

Reyes stopped his car at the right shoulder of the road and ducked for cover. The gunmen overtook them, shot his car’s front door, and then fled.

Reyes said he was able to see the faces of his attackers before they escaped. Bloodied, Reyes was able to make a U-turn toward Gapan and stopped at a police community precinct whose men brought him to a hospital.

Reyes later asked that he be transferred to a Cabanatuan City hospital for security reasons.       

At his hospital bed, Reyes told newsmen that he has no known enemies, saying the attack could be related to his duty as Gapan election officer.

Reyes, who has also served as election officer of Jaen town and the Science City of Muñoz, said he has been receiving death threats.

Police recovered .45-caliber slugs at the ambush scene.