Espinosa calls shooting political; Gomez says it was 'scripted'

Albuera, Leyte mayoral candidate Kerwin Espinosa, who was injured in a shooting during a campaign event, has alleged that the attack was politically motivated. His statement comes after seven Ormoc City police officers were tagged as persons of interest in the incident.

“Klarong-klaro na political ito," Espinosa said in a report by 24 Oras Weekend's Ian Cruz on Saturday. "Kasi dito ang tumakbo na mayor din sa Albuera… Bilas ni Congressman Richard Gomez at kapatid ni [Ormoc City Mayor] Lucy Torres na si Karen Torres. Asawa niya si Vince Rama, na iyon din ang tumatakbo dito na mayor.”

(It’s clearly political. Vince Rama is also running for mayor here in Albuera. His wife is Karen Torres - sister of Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres and sister-in-law of Congressman Richard Gomez.)

GMA Integrated News attempted to get a statement from Rama at his campaign headquarters, but he was not there.

However, Rama’s supporter, Ronilo Del Rosario, claimed that a Molotov cocktail was thrown at their headquarters on Friday morning. The incident has been reported to the Albuera Police. 

When contacted for comment, the Albuera police said they were not authorized to issue a statement.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police announced on Saturday that Ormoc City Police Chief Colonel Reydante Ariza had been relieved from duty as part of the ongoing investigation.

The seven police officers identified as persons of interest in the Espinosa shooting were reportedly in Albuera at the time of the shooting.

"Yun pong mga SOP, kapag po ang mga pulis po ay na-invovle sa mga ganyan, kasama na po diyan ang restrictive custody at nai-surrender na po ang kanilang mga firearms para po i-paraffin," said Police Colonel Randy Tuaño of the PNP Public Information Office.

(As for the SOPs, when the police are involved in such incidents, that includes being placed under restrictive custody and surrendering their firearms for paraffin testing.)

Police Colonel Dennis Llevore, operations chief of the PNP Eastern Visayas, has been designated officer-in-charge of the Ormoc City Police. He is expected to assume office on Monday.

In contrast to Espinosa’s claims, Congressman Richard Gomez dismissed the shooting as "scripted," suggesting it was self-inflicted — an “ambush me” scenario.

He added that Espinosa was merely acting and the execution of the shooting was poor.

Gomez said, "I'm still getting the facts right... I'm working on the timeline of events." — Jamil Santos/DVM, GMA Integrated News

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