Slain Calbayog mayor suffered 21 gunshot wounds, says son

Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino sustained at least 21 gunshot wounds, his eldest son said Thursday.

In a radio interview, Mark Aquino said witnesses revealed that seven gunmen repeatedly shot his father’s vehicle to make sure he was dead.

“Tatlong wave ang pagbaril nila sa papa ko. Una, apat na tao ang bumaril and then noong naubos na ang bala, nag-change mag sila tapos ‘yong tatlo naman ang bumaril,” Mark said.

[My father was repeatedly shot in three waves. First, there were four persons who shot them. They changed magazines when they ran out of bullets. Afterwards, three other persons shot them.]

Mark said witnesses heard a policeman say, “Okay na, patay na [It's done. He's dead].”

“So ibig sabihin kilala po nila si mayor… So ibig sabihin intentional po ang pagpatay nila kay mayor,” Mark said.

[This means they knew it was the mayor. This means the killing was intentional.]

The Philippine National Police said five persons were killed in the shooting incident that killed Aquino on March 8.

The reported fatalities were Ronaldo, his driver, a security guard who were aboard the mayor’s van, a police officer in another vehicle and another policeman in another vehicle.

The PNP said two groups were involved in the shootout: one was that of Mayor Aquino on board a van with a driver, a civilian companion, and a police close-in security, while the other was composed of PNP personnel from the Integrity Monitoring Enforcement Group and Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit who were conducting Red Teaming inspection on the operational readiness of PNP units in the area.

PNP said the group of Aquino allegedly initiated the shootout when his close-in security fired at the unmarked vehicle of the IMEG-PDEU group.

According to PNP, the cops involved also claimed they were initially unaware of the identities of the passengers in the van.

However, Mark rejected the police’s claim, pointing out that the vehicle was issued by the city government and that his father used the same route almost every day.

Witnesses also said vehicles used by the gunmen were frequently seen in the area days before the incident, Mark added.

“Siguro pinagaaralan nila o kine-casing na nila ‘yong lugar na ‘yon na kung saan halos araw-araw dumadaan si mayor,” he said.

Further, Mark also said one of the vehicles used by the gunmen had different license plates in the front and back.

“Ang pinagtataka ko, kung totoong legitimate operation ‘yon, ano ang ginagawa ng mga pulis doon bago dumating si mayor at bakit po sila nagtago noong dumating ang mga rumerespondeng pulis?” he said.

A special investigation task group has already been formed to probe the shooting incident, police said. -NB, GMA News