Mayor’s bodyguard shot dead in Negros Oriental

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 31): Mayor’s bodyguard shot dead in Negros Oriental

A 63-year-old bodyguard of Guihulngan City Mayor Guido Reyes was shot dead by two unidentified armed men in Barangay Bulado, Guihulngan City Tuesday morning.

Policarpio E. Bulado, a resident of Sitio Kinayan in the said village, succumbed to gunshot wounds when two unidentified men suddenly opened fire at him around 9:35 a.m. while he was on his way to an abandoned slaughterhouse to feed his swine and chicken.

SPO1 Emmanuel Magallones, case investigator, said Bulado was a job order employee of the local government unit of Guihulngan City, who reportedly worked as Reyes' bodyguard.

According to Magallones, police investigators are still trying to determine the motive of the killing.

Some witnesses are to be interviewed by the police on Wednesday. Initial accounts of witnesses claimed that one of the suspects had his face covered.

Meanwhile, Supt. Mario Baquiran, city chief of police, disclosed the suspects had other cohorts, who served as backup and were observing at a distance, particularly in an area overlooking the sitio because the site is an "ambush area".

Baquiran hinted that the victim had a son, who is an active member of the Philippine Army, and that could be a possible motive.

Recovered from the crime scene were spent shells for caliber 9 mm and .45-caliber pistols. However, some eyewitnesses claimed some of the suspects had long firearms.

Baquiran said it was the same scenario when a retired soldier was gunned down, also in Barangay Bulado a week ago. Several other people also allegedly hid in the bushes and were ready to fire in case reinforcement units arrived at the crime scene.

In last week's incident, the fleeing suspects made it known that they were members of the New People's Army.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1043297