Ajuy Vice Mayor shot dead, suspects still hunted
Two motorcycle-riding armed men shot dead an Iloilo town vice mayor who was having his usual early morning walk at dawn yesterday.
Vice Mayor Ramon Rojas of Ajuy town in Iloilo died on the spot from four gunshot wounds including two on the head, said Senior Supt. Ricardo De la Paz, Iloilo provincial police director, in a telephone interview.
Ajuy is around 87 km north of Iloilo City.
Rojas ,who was supposed to turn 50 years old today, was walking around 5:30 a.m. with Barangay Captain Armando Nacional along the national highway in Barangay Central, around two kilometers from the poblacion, when the suspects approached them from the opposite direction.
Dela Paz said the suspects stopped in front of the victim who was two meters behind Nacional and shot him twice on the body.
Radio accounts said Nacional warned Vice Mayor Rojas upon seeing the approaching men, one of whom he saw pull out a gun. The vice mayor though was then sending a text message to his driver as the triggerman quickly fired upon them.
The wounded vice mayor tried to elude his assailants but one of the suspects got off the motorcycle and shot the victim twice more hitting the victim on the neck and right eye. The suspects who wore no masks or crash helmets immediately sped off on board the motorcycle leaving the victim's companion unharmed.
The victim was brought to the Sara District Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. His remains was taken to the Somo Funeral Homes in Sara town.
Investigators recovered four empty shells from a .45 caliber pistol from the crime scene.
"We believe that the suspects are hired killers because they made sure the vice mayor was dead before escaping," said Dela Paz.
Politics is among the probable motives being pursued by investigators for the murder. Dela Paz said the vice mayor who is in his second term is being touted as a possible mayoral candidate in the 2010 elections.
"But we could not conclude until our investigation is over. Other probable motives are being looked into," said Dela Paz.
Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas, Western Visayas police director, has formed Task Force Rojas, headed by Dela Paz to spearhead the investigation of the killing.
Investigators and crime laboratory personnel from the Regional Police Office 6 have also been involved in the investigation of the case.
Cuevas told Bombo Radyo Iloilo that longtime political feud between prominent families in Ajuy could also be one of the reasons for the hit. Even the illegal fishing angle also involved top families here, he added and both are reportedly being considered by police probers.
Corresponding police operations were firmed up yesterday afternoon however no media disclosures were made pending final approval of higher-ups.
The vice mayor would have turned 50 today. He is survived by his wife, a nurse based in London with whom he has four children.
First District Board Member Richard Garin, chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Security condemned yesterday's killing.
In a statement, Garin denounced what he said was the work of "criminals who have no place in the society."
As such, he rallied for community support in helping the local police track the suspects while stressing that it is important to let the police do their work.
"We share the grief of the Rojas family and the entire people of Ajuy. Rest assured, we in the committee and entire Sanggunian Panlalawigan join them in their call for justice on the death of Vice Mayor Rojas," Garin ended.