Cagayan town mayor shot dead at flag ceremony by suspected NPA rebels

(Updated 3:48 p.m.) The gunmen waited for the national anthem to finish, then shot dead a town mayor of Cagayan province during the flag ceremony early Monday morning, police said. The province's police chief said he suspects NPA guerrillas did the deed.

Cagayan provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Gregorio Lim said Gonzaga town mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr. was about to deliver a speech when two men approached him and opened fire.

"Pagkatapos ng Pambansang Awit at [bago] mag-speech si Mayor, biglang may lumapit sa kanya allegedly dalawa ... at pinagbabaril [siya]," Lim said in an interview on dzBB radio, citing initial reports reaching him.

He said the assailants were among 20 suspected New People's Army members who were in the vicinity during the flag ceremony. "Confirmed [na] NPA," the police official claimed.

Lim said the mayor died from at least three gunshot wounds.

A separate report on Bombo Radyo said the shooting occurred at about 8 a.m. at the municipal hall.

It quoted Pentecostes' nephew and driver John Pentecostes as saying the assailants who approached the mayor wore camouflage uniforms. The mayor even greeted the two before they opened fire, the report added. 

Meanwhile, reports reaching the National Police headquarters in Camp Crame said eight armed men took part in the incident.

The report quoted one PO3 Agustin as saying that while he was manning traffic together with PO3 Orteza and PO2 Sistoza, the armed men alighted from a van and pointed their high-powered firearms at the police officers and immediately disarmed them.

The three police officers were then tied up by the armed men.

The same report further quoted Agustin as recalling that he heard the armed men say in Ilocano: "Pasensiya na kayo sir wala kayong kasalanan, si Mayor lang ang may kasalanan."

After the shooting incident, the armed men spread leaflets at the municipal hall grounds that contained a message in Ilocano: "Hustisya para iti kaaduan, dusaen dagiti utek ti dayuhan a minas iti Cagayan (Justice for all, punish the brains of the illegal mining operations by foreigners in Cagayan)."

For his part, Major Emmanuel Garcia of the military's 1st Civil Relations Group said: "Firefight ensued with the PNP personnel but the armed men withdrew immediately after killing the mayor. The armed men commandeered the police car as their means of escape.

Pursuit operations are ongoing against the armed men who were riding an Elf-type truck and a van, Lim said.

Also, he said the police are looking into the possibility that the killing was related to suspected black sand mining in the area, noting the NPAs had protested this issue.
 
Malacañang meanwhile, said it is looking into whether there were any lapses in the police's security measures. 

"Kinakailangang mahanapan ng agarang solusyon dahil hindi dapat mangyari na isang lingkod-bayan pa ang magiging target o biktima ng karahasan. Binibigyan 'yan ng prayoridad ng ating Pambansang Kapulisan," Presidential Communications Operations Office head Herminio "Sonny" Coloma Jr. said at a press conference on Monday. — Joel Locsin and Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/HS, GMA News