Ex-Quezon mayor slain

LUCENA CITY, Philippines – A former mayor of Candelaria, Quezon was killed while two of his bodyguards were wounded in an ambush yesterday morning, police said.

Senior Superintendent Elmo Sarona, Quezon police director, said former mayor David Emralino, 54, together with his security aides, was on his way to attend an installation ceremony of the Knights of Columbus when two men fired at him in front of the San Pedro Bautista Church in Barangay Poblacion, Candelaria town with a caliber .45 pistol and an Armalite rifle at around 10:50 a.m.

Emralino died while being treated at the Lucena Doctors’ Hospital, where his two wounded bodyguards, Freddie Acebron, 41 and Ramil Casilag, 42, are now confined.

Sarona said they were looking into three possible motives: politics, personal grudge, and business dispute. – Arnell Ozaeta, Michelle Zoleta, Ed Amoroso and Cecille Suerte Felipe