Pasay bet’s driver slain during campaign sortie

MANILA, Philippines - Motorcycle-riding men shot dead the driver of a candidate for councilor conducting a house-to-house campaign in Pasay City yesterday moring.

Wilfredo Panahon, 38, was attacked while he was talking to a woman as he waited for Alvin Cruzin, who was going from house-to-house to campaign for councilor in Pasay’s second district, Southern Police District director Chief Superintendent Jose Erwin Villacorte said.

He said surveillance camera footage showed two men shot the victim several times in the head and body. Police officers recovered six .45 caliber shells from the scene.

“The initial investigation is that the shooting is not election related but could be personal grudge of the victim with the suspects,” Villacorte said without elaborating.

Pasay election officer Frances Arabe said Cruzin is running under the Nationalist People’s Coalition. He is among those who received notice from the Commission on Elections to remove illegal campaign materials. Cruzin has complied with the order, she added.