Ex-municipal engineer, lady ‘kagawad’ slain in Cagayan

By Liezle Basa Iñigo

TUGUEGARAO CITY -- A former municipal engineer in Solana, Cagayan, was killed in an attack by motorcycle-riding killers as he stopped at the Annafunan Intersection in this city last Wednesday.

A day earlier, a lady “kagawad” was killed in similar fashion in Sta. Teresita town.

Supt. Edward Guzman, city chief of police, identified the victim as Antonio Malenab, 53, former municipal engineer of Solana who is reportedly now engaged in private contracting.

Based in the initial investigation, Guzman said Malenab was driving his Toyota pick-up and hit the brakes at the intersection on the way to Barangay Carig around 5 p.m. Wednesday when the attack was staged.

Riding-in-tandem gunmen suddenly opened fire into his vehicle, hitting Malenab multiple times in different parts of the body.

The Scene of the Crime Operatives team collected 11 bullet casings for a Carbine and 12 more for a .45-caliber gun.

Citing several sources, investigators said they were following leads that the killing of Malenab might either be work-related or a crime of passion.

“There are reports that the engineer often snared contracts; he might have stepped on some toes and irked some individuals,” a source close to the investigation said.

It was learned the investigation will also look into women linked to him as the killing might be the result of a love triangle.

Meanwhile, another attack by RIT gunmen ended the life of Edna Salcedo Barrut, 59, a “kagawad” in Barangay Simpatuyo, Sta. Teresita town, also in Cagayan.

Barrut, a broker by profession, was gunned down while driving her motorcycle home at 5:25 p.m. last Tuesday. Over P33,000 cash and subdivision plans in her possession were intact, prompting probers to dig deeper into the motive in her killing.