Incumbent councilor shot dead in Pangasinan

By Hilda Austria | Philippine News Agency

A 59-year-old incumbent Sangguniang Bayan council member and reelectionist was shot dead by still-unidentified suspects in Umingan town, Pangasinan province, on Saturday night.

In an interview on Sunday, Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPO) information officer, Capt. Renan dela Cruz, identified the victim as Ponciano Vallecer Onia, a resident of Barangay San Leon in Umingan.

The victim was driving his car together with his employees Ar-Jhay Roldan Molina and Mark John Dagul Nava at around 7:30 p.m. when the unidentified suspects riding a motorcycle shot at him several times at an intersection in Barangay Lubong, dela Cruz said.

He was rushed to the Umingan Community Hospital but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

Dela Cruz said the police immediately responded at the crime scene and conducted an initial investigation.

“The Umingan Police Station and nearby police stations immediately established dragnet checkpoint operations for the possible apprehension of the suspects. Backtracking and review of CCTV (closed-circuit television camera) footage is still ongoing,” he said. 

The investigation monitoring action team and tactical intelligence gathering and tracking team were activated and directed to report to the Umingan police.

Investigation is ongoing to establish the motive behind the shooting incident, he added. 

Dela Cruz said it will still be decided during the joint command conference with the Commission on Elections on Dec. 20 whether the case will affect the town’s categorization for the election period.

“We are looking into all angles, including his business and personal life,” he said.