Former Calumpit mayor shot dead

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – A former mayor and brother of former Bulacan governor Roberto “Obet” Pagdanganan was killed while another was wounded when fired upon by two unidentified gunmen at Barangay Calizon, Calumpit, Bulacan, at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Chief Superintendent Errol Pan, Police Regional Office 3 director, identified the victim as Ramon “Monching” Pagdanganan, 55, former mayor of Calumpit town.

The victim, Pan said, was having a drinking spree with friends at the house of a certain Willy Paras of said barangay when the gunmen suddenly appeared and shot him in the head and body.

Monching was immediately rushed to the Calumpit Hospital and later transferred to Bulacan District Hospital but died later, he said.

Paras who was sitting near the victim was hit on the left leg and also taken to Calumpit Hospital for treatment.

Initial investigation received here from Senior Superintendent Allen Bantolo, Bulacan provincial police director, said the victim went to the house of Paras to attend a fiesta there.

Bantolo said the victim, while having a drinking spree with Paras and other friends identified as Celeste Pajardo, Raymundo Pajardo, both of Barangay Calizon; Jurie Malinao and Coleto Estoque, when the two perpetrators arrived and pulled out a gun and shot the former mayor three times in the head and body.

The suspects fled on board a motorcycle towards undetermined direction, he said.

Bantolo said responding policemen recovered one slug of unknown caliber at the shooting incident.

Pan ordered Bulacan police and the 3rd Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit to create a task force to arrest and identify the killers of the former mayor.

As of yesterday, police authorities said they are still investigating the motive of the killing.

Additionally, Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. ordered yesterday full security for former Bulacan governor Roberto Pagdanganan following the murder of his brother in Calumpit town Sunday night.

“We have given security to Secretary Obet, who reported to us that he received a death threat,” said Razon, who also ordered Bulacan Provincial Police director Senior Superintendent Allen Bantolo to leave no stone unturned in the investigation on the incident.

Razon hinted the deployment of police security for the Pagdanganans would be part of the measures to prevent similar incident.

Ramon, who served as mayor of Calumpit from 1995 to 2004, was gunned down by still unidentified men.

Razon, however, did not elaborate on the supposed death threat on the former Bulacan governor, who is now presidential adviser on cooperatives, and chairman of the board of administrators of the Cooperative Development Authority.

Reports had it that some witnesses saw the assailants fled aboard motorcycles immediately after the incident. The killers used a 9mm and a .45 caliber pistol in killing his brother.