Antipolo City mayor says vice mayor wants him dead

MANILA, Philppines - Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares III has accused Vice Mayor Puto Leyva and two local government officials of hatching a plot to assassinate him and his father, former Rizal governor Casimiro Ynares.

The younger Ynares identified the other officials involved in the alleged assassination plot as Freddie Garcia, treasurer of Barangay San Luis and Andrei Zapanga, former chairman of Barangay San Luis.

The mayor said his camp unearthed the assassination plan when one of the alleged gunman hired to kill him, Rolando Laroco, was shot to death in the afternoon of August 26 while on board a motorcycle in Buliran Road, Barangay San Isidro, Antipolo.

"Apparently galing s'ya (Laroco) from a surveillance operation on us nung pinagbabaril siya," the mayor told philstar.com, adding that Laroco had 15 gunshot wounds in different parts of the body.

Initial police investigations showed that Laroco was on his way to Cogeo when he was ambushed.

The police report added that the four gunmen took an envelope from the victim and escaped on board two motorcycles toward Yupcheco Subdivision, Barangay San Isidro.

Ynares said that when the authorities questioned Laroco's wife, she claimed that her husband was one of the four assassins hired to liquidate the Ynareses.

The mayor said that according to the wife of the victim, she heard the group talking about the plan to eliminate him and his father.

Ynares said the assassins had attempted to take him down in two occasions.

"Yung una may mga kasama akong pulis tapos yung pangalawa eh nagpadala ako ng proxy sa isang event na dapat pupuntahan ko," Ynares said.

He added that the group also knew the schedules of his father when he takes a jog inside their subdivision.

"Itong mga information na ito ay personal sa amin tulad ng pagpunta ko at family ko sa mall. Alam nila," Ynares said.

He said that according to the woman, her husband and the rest of the group had been paid P100,000 each as an initial payment. She said that the group was supposed to get an additional P600,000 upon the completion of the kill job, the mayor added.

He said Laroco's widow is now under the protective custody of the police.

The mayor said that they will file appropriate charges against the people involved in the alleged kill plot as soon as the police have finished its investigation.

Philstar.com tried to contact Leyva but city hall employees said the vice mayor and the rest of his staff have not been coming to their makeshift in the Ynares Stadium.

The Antipolo City hall is undergoing renovation, which is expected to be finished by October.