Ex-village chief slain in ambush

MANILA, Philippines -  A former prosecutor and barangay chairman was killed in an ambush by motorcycle-riding assailants in Mandaluyong City yesterday.

Lawyer Pablito Gahol, 77, died while being rushed to the hospital.

Eastern Police District director Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula said they have yet to know the motive for Gahol’s murder. The victim is not on the EPD’s drug watchlist, he added.

“We are conducting a background investigation on his past job as prosecutor of the city and as chairman of Barangay Mauway,” Sapitula said in an interview.

Aside from being the chief prosecutor of Mandaluyong City during the term of former mayor Benjamin Abalos, Gahol also served as head of the city’s Public Law Enforcement Board and initiated the removal of several erring police officers.

After his retirement from government service, Gahol served as chairman of Barangay Mauway for several terms.

“We are pursuing politics and personal enemies as angles,” Sapitula said.

Senior Superintendent Joaquin Alva, Mandaluyong police chief, said Gahol was driving his Mercedes Benz (COR 22) along Nueve de Febrero street in Barangay Mauway when four men on two motorcycles attacked at past 10 a.m.

His wife and child were with him and they were on their way home after going to church.

The ambush occurred only several meters away from the EPD’s Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) office.

The assailants shot Gahol several times before fleeing, leaving his wife and child unhurt.

Neighbors rushed Gahol to the Dr. Victor Potenciano Hospital but he was declared dead on arrival. 

Alva said Responding SOCO personnel recovered 14 bullet casings and three slugs from the crime scene.