Pampanga town’s ABC head shot

ARAYAT, Pampanga — The president of this town’s Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) sustained gunshot wounds in the legs when two unidentified men fired at him last week.

Superintendent Delfin Res—picio, Arayat police chief, said Ronnie Miranda, 42, chairman of Barangay Camba, was on his way to the town hall aboard his red Nissan car last Thursday night when a white Toyota Corolla car blocked his path along the Olongapo-Gapan Road in Barangay San Agustin Norte.

Two men, one armed with an M-16 rifle and the other with a caliber .45 pistol, alighted from the white car and fired at Miranda.

Miranda told investigators that he ducked to the floor of his car upon seeing the two men train their firearms on him.

Believing that they had killed Miranda, the two men boarded their car and sped off toward Nueva Ecija.

"I thought I was going to die, but I prayed to our barangay’s patron, St. Isidore, to spare my life," he said.

Miranda is now confined in an undisclosed hospital where police are providing him tight security.

Miranda said he did not recognize his attackers and that he was not aware of any personal enemies.

"I don’t know anybody who would want to kill me," he told probers.

Although probers still have no solid clues to the ambush, Arayat Mayor Chito Espino suspects Miranda’s attackers had a "personal motive." He did not elaborate.

He, however, described the shooting as an "isolated" incident, saying his town is generally peaceful.

Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina, Pampanga police director, said there were no indications that the gunmen belonged to any of the five left-leaning groups here which have long been at odds with each other.