Ex-Basilan mayor, 2 others dead in Ateneo shooting
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 07:51 p.m.) — A former mayor of a Basilan town and two others died in the wake of a shooting incident Saturday afternoon at the Ateneo de Manila University’s Quezon City Campus, police said.
The National Capital Region Police Office said Rosita Furigay, former mayor of Lamitan City in Basilan, was dead on arrival at the World Citi Medical Center.
Furigay was elected mayor in 2013, replacing her husband Roderick, who had been mayor since 2004. Local reports said that Rosita bowed out of politics in June.
An earlier report identified her husband as the casualty in the incident.
Security guard Jeneven Bandiola, 35, was also dead on arrival at the Quezon Memorial Medical Center, while Victor George Capistrano, identified by police as an executive assistant, was found dead on the scene.
Barangay Loyola Height captain Don Hayes previously said that a mayor from the province of Basilan died in the shooting.
Furigay’s 25-year-old daughter, Hanna, is in the emergency room of the QMMC undergoing treatment, police said.
Shooter apprehended
The suspect, identified by police as Ramil Nicomedez is reportedly in the custody of the police. A statement from the Office of the Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte however identified a different suspect under custody named Chao Tiao Yumul.
It is unclear whether two suspects have been arrested.
The shooter was captured following a chase along Esteban Abada St. He was said to have escaped to Varsity Hills Subdivision by climbing a wall in front of the barangay hall, after which he rammed the village’s gates in a getaway vehicle and drove to Aurora.
The Ateneo Law School was supposed to hold their graduation rites on Saturday, but this was canceled after the shooting as the campus was placed on lockdown.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte denounced the shooting incident at Ateneo, saying “this kind of incident has no place in our society and must be condemned to the highest level.”
Belmonte also extended her sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the shooting.
The National Bureau of Investigation said that it has dispatched a team of agents to the Ateneo campus “to investigate and extend assistance to the victims and school authorities.” — Xave Gregorio with reports from Franco Luna and Kristine Joy Patag
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article erroneously reported that an incumbent mayor from Basilan was killed from the incident. This article has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
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