Lawmaker’s police bodyguard tagged in gunslaying

CAMP DIEGO SILANG, La Union — A police bodyguard of La Union Rep. Tomas Dumpit Sr. was tagged as the killer of the lawmaker’s driver last Friday.

Senior Inspector Joel Garcia, Naguilian police chief, said Ricardo Pepito, 27, a helper of the Dumpits, saw PO3 Raul Flores shoot Armin Mato with an M-16 Armalite rifle.

Pepito told police investigators that Flores and Mato, who was incidentally celebrating his 38th birthday last Friday, had a verbal tussle during a drinking bout at about 4 p.m. inside the Dumpits’ residential compound in Barangay Ortiz, Naguilian town.

Pepito recounted that Flores left his drinking buddies and later returned with the Armalite rifle with which he shot Mato.

Mato sustained six gunshot wounds in different parts of the body. He was rushed to the Naguilian District Hospital and later transferred to the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center in San Fernando City where he was declared dead on arrival.

Flores escaped after the killing and is now the subject of a manhunt.

According to police sources, the crime scene had been cleared before investigators arrived there. Only one empty M-16 shell was found.

Mato was one of the eight suspects tagged in the Jan. 12 murder of Felimon Asperin Jr., election registrar of Bauang town.

Mato’s brother Ares confessed to shooting Asperin and tagged Rep. Dumpit and his son, Butch, a former military officer, as the alleged masterminds.

Following the killing, all licenses to carry firearms of the Dumpits and their bodyguards were cancelled.

However, police sources told The STAR that the cancellation was lifted a day before the shooting incident in the Dumpits’ Naguilian residence.