MALOLOS CITY—The municipal budget officer of Norzagaray town was shot to death beside her husband at the parking lot of a church on after attending Sunday Mass.
The municipal government of Norzagaray condemned the killing “in the strongest terms” and called on the police to fast track the investigation to dispel speculation that the killing was politically motivated. Senior Supt. Joel Orduna, Bulacan provincial police director, identified the victim as Yolanda Ervas.
Orduna said Ervas was shot four times around 6:30 a.m. Sunday at the parking lot of the San Andres parish
church located at Barangay Poblacion in the said town. He said that investigation is still ongoing to determine the motive of the killing. However, Orduna said that while they are considering many angles, police investigators
are looking at the possibility that the killing is work-related.
Sources said Ervas had just attended Mass when the killing occurred. They also said that an unidentified man
had an argument with Irineo Ervas, the husband of the budget officer. While her husband was arguing with the unidentified man, Yolanda got off the vehicle but was shot four times by another unidentified man.
Yolanda was immediately rushed to nearby Norzagaray Municipal Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
For his part, Vice Mayor Arthur Legazpi and the sangguniang bayan of Norzagaray condemned the killing.
Legazpi said, “for years, Norzagaray is a peaceful town, now we have this high profile crime and we condemn
it in the harshest terms because crimes like that have no place in a town like ours.” The vice mayor also urged the police to hasten the investigation to dispel speculation that the killing is politically motivated.
He said that while Ervas filed administrative charges against his father, former mayor Feliciano Legazpi, their relationship remained civil. The charge led to the suspension of the older Legazpi for six months starting December last year.
The older Legazpi lost to Alfredo German in a contested case of massive vote buying in last May’s elections.
Meanwhile sources from the municipal government who asked not to be named said that Ervas was also the subject of complaints by some employees over her refusal to sign their pay slip during the suspension of the older Legazpi as mayor.
