Ilocos Norte municipal assessor shot, wounded

PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte – The municipal assessor of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte was shot and wounded afternoon of April 1 in another violent incident in the province.

Senior Insp. Dexter Corpuz, Pagudpud police chief, said assessor Reynold Galat, an engineer by training, was attacked by motorcycle-riding gunmen in front of the town Peoples Center.

Galat, who was reportedly heading home from work, was hit in one arm and right side of the abdomen.
Probers found a slug and an empty shell from a Cal. 45 pistol at the crime scene.

Galat said he could identify his attackers, as they did not cover their faces.

Pagudpud Mayor Maja Sales, herself a victim of a foiled assassination plot last year, offered P50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Galat’s attackers.

Earlier, a provincial official disclosed a “hit” in Ilocos Norte by guns-for-hire is paid a measly P5,000.

The rash of shootings in the province, including the recent killing of a trial court judge in Currimao town, prompted officials to form a task force to combat violent incidents.

Despite the move, the shootings and killings continued, prompting critics to bewail what they said was the police’s inefficiency to respond to gun-related violence.