QC barangay captain shot dead

A barangay captain in Quezon City who was very active in anti-drug campaigns was shot dead while conducting a meeting in the multi-purpose hall of Barangay Central Monday evening, a top police official said yesterday.

Quezon City Police District chief Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula identified the victim as barangay chairman Ronnie Sicat.

Gatdula said initial investigation showed that Sicat was having a meeting at about 7:45 p.m. when three gunmen shot him at close range while two others acted as lookouts.

After the shooting, three of the suspects fled on foot and the two others immediately boarded a Fairview-bound jeepney.

Sicat, who sustained five gunshot wounds in the head, was declared dead by Dr. Arman Sarmiento at the Lung Center of the Philippines.

Gatdula said Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has given orders for the QCPD to prioritize the case and track down the suspects, believed to be members of drug syndicates operating in the area.

Gatdula said he has assigned Superintendent Franklin Mabanag, chief of the Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU), to personally handle the case.

He said QCPC homicide investigators are working closely with crime scene investigators in scrutinizing the physical evidence recovered at the crime scene.

“We will also release sketches of the suspects as soon as our investigators finish their interview with the witnesses,” Gatdula said.    

– Perseus Echeminada