Nationalista Party vice mayoral candidate in Surigao del Norte shot

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – A Nationalista Party (NP) vice mayoral candidate in Surigao del Norte was shot and wounded in his home Tuesday night in what is believed to be another politically motivated attack, police said.

Councilor Wilbert Suanco Origenes, who is running for vice mayor of Taganaan town, is in critical condition after a gunman entered his house and shot him in the chest in front of his family, police said.

The gunman then got on a motorcycle, where an accomplice was waiting, and drove away, said Chief Superintendent Lino de Guzman Calingasan, Caraga regional police director.

Police are investigating if politics was behind the attack, but other reasons such as business conflicts or a personal grudge could not be ruled out, said Calingasan.

Origenes, who suffered three bullet wounds in the chest, was in serious condition at the Surigao Medical Center in Surigao City, said Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Casurra, NP bet for congressman in Surigao del Norte’s first district. 

Casurra said Origenes, president of the local Association of Barangay Captains, was the second NP candidate attacked in Surigao del Norte.

Last October, he said Vice Mayor Leonardo Gastardo of San Francisco town was also shot and wounded in his home.

NP spokesman Gilbert Remulla said he was “shocked and appalled by the assassination attempt on another candidate of our party.”

“Only politics can be behind the motive of the shooting,” he said, although he did not blame any group for the attack.

Last Monday, an NP councilor bet was killed and eight others were wounded when hooded gunmen opened fire on their convoy in Dingras, Ilocos Norte.

“It is regrettable that these senseless acts of violence and impunity are setting the tone of the elections to come,” Remulla said.

The NP, led by standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar, has asked political parties to renounce violence and commit themselves to honest and peaceful elections.

– With Christina Mendez