Asistio loses left eye

MANILA, Philippines - Pro golfer Antonio Asistio II has lost his left eye following a shooting incident last week.

Doctors at the Medical City in Pasig City are scheduling an operation on Asistio to restore the nerves of his eye in preparation for an eye transplant.

“The left eye was displaced. And the doctors are now in the process of restoring the nerves of his eyes preparatory to an eye transplant,” a hospital employee told The STAR.

Asistio is now in stable condition but is under oxygen inhalation.

There is massive swelling in his left eye.

His live-in partner corporate lawyer Catherine Fong, 34, and her friends advised police investigators from the Marikina City police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) that Asistio is not yet ready to have his statement of the incident taken.

Asistio is communicating with his family and friends thru an ipad.

A two-year pro, Asistio is a nephew of Caloocan City Rep. Luis “Baby” Asistio.

Asistio is a former national team mainstay who backstopped a number of national teams to the SEA Games, the Putra Cup, Nomura Cup and the World Amateurs.

Asistio was having a post-Christmas party with Fong and his friends’ lawyer Sarah Mae Cruz and fellow golfer Erwin Vinluan in the garage of the victim’s rented house at No. 21-R Elm Street, New Marikina Heights, Barangay San Roque when a gunman fired twice at him at about 11:30 p.m. Monday.

Asistio was hit in the left eye and left shoulder.

The slug that hit his left eye embedded in his right cheekbone while the one that hit his left shoulder entered his throat and was swallowed by him.

Superintendent Danilo Macerin, deputy chief of the CIDG’s National Capital Region (NCR) said the embedded slug could be that of a caliber .38 revolver.

“The suspect could be using a low caliber firearm as the slug got embedded in the strong point of his body,” said Macerin, noting that Asistio could have been killed had the gunman used a high caliber firearm.

According to Macerin, CIDG investigators have not yet interviewed Asistio as his relatives appealed for more time to allow him to recover from his gunshot wounds.

He said only Asistio could describe his gunman as he was facing him when he was shot.

Fong and his two other drinking buddies also failed to see the face of the gunman.

“We are respecting the appeal of the Asistio family. We will wait for their signal before taking his statement and description of the gunman, including the motive behind the attack,” said Macerin.