La Union poll exec murdered

BAUANG, La Union — This town’s election registrar was shot dead yesterday morning while he was about to board his car in front of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office here.

Superintendent Pedro Ubaldo, Bauang police chief, said municipal election registrar Felimon Asperin Jr., 40, son of former Comelec regional director Felimon Asperin Sr., suffered a single gunshot wound in the head.

Investigation showed that Asperin had just come from his office at the second floor of the municipal library and was approaching his car parked along Naguilian Road when he was shot at about 10:20 a.m. with a caliber .45 pistol.

Ubaldo said the gunman then escaped on board a motorcycle driven by another man toward Baguio City.

Based on initial descriptions, Ubaldo said the gunman was about five feet, five inches tall and between 30 and 35 years old.

Lawyer Marino Salas, La Union election supervisor, Bauang Mayor Martin de Guzman, Agoo Mayor Eufranio Eriguel, a close relative of Asperin, all condemned the killing, saying it was politically motivated.

"Although the motive is not yet established, I strongly believe that his death is related to politics considering his job as an election officer," Salas said.

De Guzman said Asperin’s killing tainted the good image of Bauang with regards to peace and order.

"We were shocked that this incident happened to a Comelec official. I don’t know of any reason why they killed him because our elections here in Bauang were very peaceful. We are very saddened and I urge witnesses to come out for the speedy resolution of the case," he said.

For his part, Eriguel also believes that the killing of Asperin, whose wife Libertin was an election assistant in Agoo town, had something to do with politics.

"This is politically motivated because the (manner of) the killing is the same as that of other political killings in Agoo," he said, citing the recent slaying of his political adviser, Rogelio de Vera.