DOTC-CAR exec survives attack

BAGUIO CITY — The assistant director of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was shot by two motorcycle-riding men in front of his house here Tuesday night.

Doctors have pronounced Robert Fernando, assistant regional director for communications, out of danger. He sustained four bullet wounds in the leg, abdomen, right chest and right arm.

The attack came just a few hours after Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez took over as city police chief and vowed to lead the investigation into high-profile crimes in the city.

Ninety of the city’s 128 barangay chairmen earlier had petitioned for the replacement of Superintendent Francisco Manalo, Nerez’s predecessor, as they bewailed the rising incidence of street crimes in the central business district, among other complaints.

Sources said Fernando had received death threats for unknown reasons prior to the shooting.

Fernando is a local coordinator of the Filipinos for Peace, Justice and Progress Movement (FPJPM) and was supposed to take part in yesterday’s motorcade of senatorial candidates of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) here and in Benguet.