Ex-village chief ambushed in Abra; Zamboanga businessman robbed, killed

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A former barangay chairman is fighting for his life in a hospital after he and his nephew were ambushed by unidentified gunmen Thursday night in Barangay San Antonio in Bangued – Abra’s capital town.

Former Banacao barangay chairman Marcelino Castillo Banayos, 58, together with his nephew, construction worker Janssen Benauro Blanes, 20, were in a pick-up truck when they were waylaid just 100 meters away from a police detachment.

Initial police investigation showed that the attackers shot the victims several times until their vehicle crashed into a rice field. Banayos was hit in his back and neck while Blanes had wounds in his left arm and head.

In Zamboanga City, a businessman was killed and lost P2 million during an attack in broad daylight along the bypass road in Barangay Lunzuran here yesterday.

Private contractor Ferdinand Tan Monserina and his companion, identified only as a certain Martin, had just withdrawn cash from a bank when they were attacked by gunmen on two motorcycles.

Police said the car Monserina was driving crashed on the roadside. Monserina died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds. Martin was able to escape.

Investigators recovered at least 15 empty cartridges for a caliber 9mm pistol. They also found that the P2 million the two had withdrawn from a bank was missing. — Roel Pareño