Task group formed to probe ex-Bulacan councilor's slay

MANILA, Philippines – Police have formed a task group to look into the murder of a former Bulacan councilor, who was shot and killed while having breakfast with a nephew at a fastfood restaurant in Quezon City Saturday.

Senior Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, chief of the directorial staff of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), will head the panel ordered created by district director Chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele.

Superintendent Antonio Yarra, chief of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit and also a member of the task group, said he hopes the family of Jose Bladimer Lava will be able to shed light on his murder when they visit his office this week.

Yarra said the victim is the son of former Bulacan board member Jose Baby Lava and Bulacan Councilor Rosalie Lava.

Lava, 40, a former councilor of Bulacan town, was also reportedly engaged in supplying fingerlings, according to Yarra.

Investigator Police Officer 3 Jaime Jimena said they have a sketch of the gunman based on the accounts of village watchmen during the time of the shooting.

He said they are currently checking the area where the shooting happened to see if there are closed-circuit television cameras that may have caught the incident.

Lava and his nephew were eating at a fastfood restaurant at the corner of Tomas Morato Avenue and Scout De Guia street in Barangay Laging Handa at past 7 a.m. when the gunman, standing outside the restaurant, started shooting in Lava’s direction, smashing the establishment’s glass panes.

The gunman then boarded a motorcycle manned by a cohort before speeding off. The victim suffered four gunshot wounds in the back and died during surgery at a hospital.