Jealousy "motive" in gun slay of Ilocos Norte priest

PINILI, Ilocos Norte – Police are still trying to determine the gunmen and their motives including jealousy in the killing Tuesday of Fr. Florante Rigonan, 48, who had served as parish priest of the St. Isadore Church here for six years.

Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil, Ilocos regional police director, formed a task force to go after the assailants but to date, no leads have been unearthed, police said.

Rigonan was gunned down night of Aug. 28 after he officiated a memorial mass in a remote village.

Investigation showed Rigonan was about to board his Toyota Hi-Ace after saying mass for the late mother of balikbayan Florencio Macalma when he was attacked in Barangay Puritac at around 10 p.m.

Supt. Roman Felix police director of Ilocos Norte said Rigonan was the parish priest in Barangay Valbuena, Pinili, and resident of Barangay Aglipay, Batac.

Felix said the victim was waylaid by the assailants who peppered him with bullets fired from an M16 armalite rifle.

He died on the spot. Bataoil said the victim was about to board his Toyota Hi-ace van with plate No., USF 307 near the house of a friend when the armed men appeared from behind and shot him several times.

The victim had just come from the house of his friend, identified as Florencio Macalma of Barangay Puritac, where he had dinner with some parishioners.

The police found 10 shells of M16 armalite bullets at the scene of the ambush. Nobody reportedly attended to the fallen priest as local folk scampered to safety upon hearing the gunfire.

Following this, Bataoil directed policemen to hunt down the killers.

He assured the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines that he will leave no stone unturned in the investigation of the case.

Bataoil said he had created Task Force Rigonan to investigate the killing.

It was Ilocos Norte Bishop Sergio Utleg himself who attended to the priest. Utleg rushed to the scene from Laoag City upon learning of the attack.

“He was bloodied and mud-soaked,” the bishop told reporters.

Investigators were still gathering clues as to the possible motive. But a helper of Rigonan told radio station dzEA that the priest intimated to him that certain relatives of Macalma and his wife allegedly got jealous because the balikbayan couple had donated large sums of money for the newly constructed parish church.

Police were reportedly set to investigate Macalma’s relatives.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said Rigonan’s killing “needs a thorough investigation.”

According to information he had gathered, Cruz said Rigonan was not an activist and had no known enemies. -- By Teddy Molina, Mar Supnad and Freddie lazaro)