2 persons slain, 1 hurt in Isabela town attack

BY JOAN CAPUNA

JONES, Isabela – The gunman who barged into a political meeting among supporters of a mayoralty candidate here on April 7 was nabbed after he shot two people dead including the candidate’s grandson and injured one.

Police said it was not clear if the killings of Vismark Frank Paredes, 23-years-old grandson of Jones mayoralty candidate Francisco “Paquing” Paredes and Rufino Alejo, a former tanod chief of Barangay Disimpit in the town were election related.

Police said there might be a second gunman because two types of spent shells were found at the crime scene – five from a .45 caliber pistol and one from a 9 mm pistol. Wounded in the attack was Alejo’s son Mark.

Based on initial reports, suspect Mark Lagunilla, 31, first shot Vismark as he was leaving the compound where the meeting was taking place around 9:30 p.m. in barangay Disimpit.

On hearing the gunshots, Paredes and Mark’s father Rufino rushed to the scene only to be gunned down.

Paredes, an incumbent municipal councilor, is running under the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats ticket.

Although a Lakas-CMD member, Paredes is a supporter of re-electionist Gov. Grace Padaca, who is allied with Sen. Franklin Drilon’s faction of the Liberal Party.

Padaca is running against former three-term governor Benjamin Dy, younger brother of former Governor Fautino Dy Jr., president of the Nationalist People’s Coaltition. Padaca defeated the elder Dy in the 2004 gubernatorial race.
Gamu town Mayor Fernando Cumigad, regional spokesman for the Lakas-CMD, said it was too early to blame politics for the murder.

“The incident is a sensitive matter, so it is still premature to conclude that it is politically motivated,” Cumigad said.

Isabela is one the provinces in the country with a history of election violence. The Commission on Elections eyes including the province in its list of election hot spots.
The twin killings came hours after Rommel Diasen, a Lakas-CMD gubernatorial candidate, was slain by an unidentified gunman while delivering a campaign speech in barangay Maganao, in the capital town of Tabuk in Kalinga province.