Ecija ex-councilor’s killer known; hunted by cops

By Ariel Avendaño and Martin Sadongdong

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — Senior Supt. Leon Victor Rosete, provincial police director, said on Tuesday the Special Investigation Task Group is zeroing-in on the suspect in the killing of Allan Joson, 42, a former councilor who was planning a comeback in San Antonio town but was gunned down last week.

Rosete, however said the suspect’s identity cannot be immediately revealed as of this writing pending the comprehensive validation being conducted by the SITG.

“Malalaman na po natin ang puno’t-dulo ng motibo ng pamamaslang pag nakuha na natin ‘yong suspect so that we will not keep on speculating (We will know all about the motive in the killing once we arrest the suspect so that we could avoid speculating),” Rosete said.

Joson was shot dead by a lone motorcycle-riding gunman while standing along the side of a road several meters away from their house in Barangay Julo in San Antonio at around 4:25 p.m. last October 19.

The former councilor succumbed to seven bullet wounds in the body and head.

Joson, a three-termer councilor before losing for the vice mayoralty race in 2016, recently filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) at the local Comelec in San Antonio to seek a fresh mandate in the eight-seat town council (Sangguniang Bayan) in next year’s elections.

Prior to his killing, the victim served as consultant for barangay affairs under the office of Mayor Arvin Salonga, who is unopposed in his bid for reelection.

Salonga has already offered a P200,000 bounty for the immediate arrest of the perpetrator on the gruesome killing.

Salonga credited Joson for being instrumental in convincing former political rivals to unite behind his current administration’s leadership.

Joson was running under the National Unity Party. He was seeking a return to office after he lost in the vice mayoralty race in the same town in 2016 elections.

Corpuz said the Central Luzon PRO condemned the killing of Joson and vowed an in-depth investigation to identify and arrest the suspect.

“We are looking into all angles to establish possible motives and we are exerting all means to get into the bottom of this unfortunate incident,” said Corpuz in a statement.

In a message sent to reporters, Corpuz confirmed election-related violence is among the possible motives being investigated since he was running in the 2019 midterm elections.

Aside from this, personal grudge is also being looked into by probers, he added without going into details.

The PNP official also offered his condolences to the bereaved family of the victim while soliciting public support for the immediate arrest of the suspect.

Meanwhile, San Antonio, Nueva Ecija Mayor Arvin Salonga said the municipal government is offering a P200,000 bounty to anyone who can provide helpful information about the suspect.

For any information that could lead to the quick resolution of the case, the public can contact the Nueva Ecija police through its hotline 0999-883-8327 or 0917-623-5700.