Retired policeman killed in Ilocos

Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines – A retired police officer was gunned down by alleged hired killers Wednesday night on reasons still unclear to police investigators.

Raymundo Castillo Jr., a former police officer and a former barangay chairman in Dingras town, this province, was shot at close range by two-motorcycle riding gunmen in front of his son’s car repair shop.

The former policeman who also had been a barangay chairman of Cali in the said town, was sitting inside his car parked in front of a repair shop when the gunmen aboard a motorcycle casually approached him and pumped bullets into his neck and chest.

The gunmen fled aboard the same motorcycle without license plate after the shooting.

Not immediately blaming partisan politics as the motive of the killing, Senior Superintendent Benjamin Lusad, Ilocos Norte police director said, he could not yet conclusively say what prompted the brutal slaying.

“In a few hours, we will have a theory on this,” Lusad said as he hinted that probers have already talked to witnesses. “One thing is sure,” Lusad said, “we already have suspects.”

Castillo Jr., accordingly, was a close ally of Dingras Mayor Marineth Gamboa, a staunch opponent of Ilocos Norte Gov. Michael Keon.