Apayao town councilor gunned down

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Philippines – Police probers are eyeing personal grudge in last Monday night’s killing of a 39-year-old councilor in Luna town in Apayao.

Councilor Bienvenido Verzola III was shot dead by still unidentified men in front of a waiting shed at the Luna town proper, said Senior Superintendent Albertito Garcia, Apayao police director.

Verzola was shot in the right arm, left thigh, below the nipple and left knee. He also had laceration on the forehead and fractures in his skull.

Police quoted Verzola’s companion, Millo Ramos, as saying that he noticed someone at the waiting shed wearing a baseball cap and informed the councilor about it.

Verzola reportedly drove to the waiting shed on his motorcycle, and after a few minutes, Ramos and Verzola’s brother-in-law Jeffrey Pinzon said they heard several gunshots.

Pinzon saw the gunman fleeing aboard a motorcycle and gave chase, but eventually lost track of him.

Police found six fired cartridges from a .45 caliber and a metal fragment at the crime scene. – With Charlie Lagasca, Raymund Catindig