Pasay village chief slain in front of family

MANILA, Philippines -  A barangay captain in Pasay City was shot dead by an attacker who entered his house Saturday night as he was feeding his two-year-old daughter.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton told The STAR that chairman Ronaldo Tambagan of Barangay Maricaban was shot thrice in the head and face. He said it is “premature” to conclude that Tambagan’s fight against illegal drugs was the motive behind the killing, adding investigators are still in the process of gathering evidence.

“We want to know the activities that the captain was engaged in prior to his death,” Cuaton said over the phone.

A source from the Pasay City police told The STAR that the mastermind behind Tambagan’s murder could be “moneyed.” He added that politics and the victim’s “possible relationship” with a high-profile married woman provide the strongest motives.

“The drug business in Maricaban is not that brisk for it to be seriously considered,” the source said.

Tamabagan, 38, was serving his first term as village chieftain. A source from Pasay police told The STAR that Tambagan implemented curfews, eradicated gambling, fought off drug pushers, and religiously conducted night patrols in his barangay, which is known as one of the most depressed villages in the city.

In a separate interview, case investigator Police Officer 3 Marianito Agas said Tambagan had just gotten out of bed when the shooting took place.

Tambagan was at the dining table with his daughter, while his wife Laarni was sitting on the sofa. The family’s maid and a certain Risa, meanwhile, were also inside the house and witnessed the shooting, said Agas.

According to Cuaton, four men had parked a white Toyota Fortuner about 100 meters away from Tambagan’s house hours before he was killed. Only two of them – the gunman and the lookout – proceeded to the victim's house, he said.

Agas said the gunman might have found it easy to barge into Tambagan’s house because its doors are ”always open.” Cuaton said witnesses described the gunman fleeing “like he was joining in a walkathon.”