MABALACAT, Pampanga – The curse of Mt. Pinatubo’s lahar?
A businessman reportedly engaged in the lucrative lahar sand quarrying in this province and his uncle were shot dead in their car at about 12:15 p.m. last Sunday along a busy section of the MacArthur highway in Barangay Mabiga in this town.
Police have theorized that the killings could be related to quarrying operations which had also been named as motive in past unsolved murders during the terms of former governors Lito Lapid, Mark Lapid and Eddie Panlilio.
Pampanga police director Senior Supt. Primitivo Retirado identified the victims as quarry operator Leonardo Licup of Green Meadows Subdivision here and his uncle Dolly Licup of Porac town. They were shot dead by two still unidentified suspects who fled on a motorcycle.
Retirado said that victims were shot in their car, driven by Leonardo, as they negotiated a turn towards the highway from the gate of Golden Land subdivision in the area.
Leonardo and his uncle had inspected the construction of the building the latter owned in the subdivision.
Witnesses said that one of the suspects emerged from a waiting shed at the highway intersection and immediately fired his .45 calibre pistol at the victim’s car. The vehicle crashed against a nearby tree.
Probers said the car had two bullet holes in the window near the driver’s seat, another at the rear window and several more in the left window. Six spent shells from .45 calibre bullets were later found by the police.
The gunman fire more shots into the air apparently to warn bystanders, as he walked towards a motorcycle without plate where his accomplice was waiting. They fled towards the Dau commercial center.
Police cited witnesses as describing the gunman as short-haired, fair-complexioned, lean of built, about 5’10" tall and 20 to 30 years old, while his accomplice was said to be chubby, dark-complexioned, 5’5" tall and 20-25 years old.
A police source who asked not to be named pending further investigation of the case said the killing could be related to Leonardo’s quarry operations which yields the provincial government from P9 million to P23 million monthly since the term of former Gov. Eddie Panlilio.
Several persons have already been killed, most of the cases unsolved, with probers theorizing conflicts in quarry activities as motive. The victims included Roland Malit who was shot dead in Floridablanca town in December, 2008 after he discovered irregularities in the local quarry industry.
Eddie Ayen, chair of the Sulong Floridablaca Movement, described the killing as “99 percent surely related to quarrying.”
Former Pampanga governor Sen. Lito Lapid and his son Mark Lapid, who also became governor later, are facing graft charges over quarrying controversies during their term wherein income from quarrying operations reportedly averaged merely P9 million per year.
There had been reports of recycling receipts issued to quarry truckers as well as outright use of fake receipts that deprived the provincial government of taxes. Some P300 is collected from each truck hauling sand from this province. Thousands of trucks haul sand daily.
Gov. Lilia Pineda adopted Panlilio’s strategies to combat corruption and anomalies in quarrying operations even as she even vowed to raise even more revenues for the provincial government from lahar sand.
During her first month in office last July, Pineda noted quarry income at P23 .5 million. Records indicated that quarry operations yielded P16,545,000 last January, P16,845,000 in February, P18,870,000 in March, P16,560,000 in April, and 9,255,000 in May.
A businessman reportedly engaged in the lucrative lahar sand quarrying in this province and his uncle were shot dead in their car at about 12:15 p.m. last Sunday along a busy section of the MacArthur highway in Barangay Mabiga in this town.
Police have theorized that the killings could be related to quarrying operations which had also been named as motive in past unsolved murders during the terms of former governors Lito Lapid, Mark Lapid and Eddie Panlilio.
Pampanga police director Senior Supt. Primitivo Retirado identified the victims as quarry operator Leonardo Licup of Green Meadows Subdivision here and his uncle Dolly Licup of Porac town. They were shot dead by two still unidentified suspects who fled on a motorcycle.
Retirado said that victims were shot in their car, driven by Leonardo, as they negotiated a turn towards the highway from the gate of Golden Land subdivision in the area.
Leonardo and his uncle had inspected the construction of the building the latter owned in the subdivision.
Witnesses said that one of the suspects emerged from a waiting shed at the highway intersection and immediately fired his .45 calibre pistol at the victim’s car. The vehicle crashed against a nearby tree.
Probers said the car had two bullet holes in the window near the driver’s seat, another at the rear window and several more in the left window. Six spent shells from .45 calibre bullets were later found by the police.
The gunman fire more shots into the air apparently to warn bystanders, as he walked towards a motorcycle without plate where his accomplice was waiting. They fled towards the Dau commercial center.
Police cited witnesses as describing the gunman as short-haired, fair-complexioned, lean of built, about 5’10" tall and 20 to 30 years old, while his accomplice was said to be chubby, dark-complexioned, 5’5" tall and 20-25 years old.
A police source who asked not to be named pending further investigation of the case said the killing could be related to Leonardo’s quarry operations which yields the provincial government from P9 million to P23 million monthly since the term of former Gov. Eddie Panlilio.
Several persons have already been killed, most of the cases unsolved, with probers theorizing conflicts in quarry activities as motive. The victims included Roland Malit who was shot dead in Floridablanca town in December, 2008 after he discovered irregularities in the local quarry industry.
Eddie Ayen, chair of the Sulong Floridablaca Movement, described the killing as “99 percent surely related to quarrying.”
Former Pampanga governor Sen. Lito Lapid and his son Mark Lapid, who also became governor later, are facing graft charges over quarrying controversies during their term wherein income from quarrying operations reportedly averaged merely P9 million per year.
There had been reports of recycling receipts issued to quarry truckers as well as outright use of fake receipts that deprived the provincial government of taxes. Some P300 is collected from each truck hauling sand from this province. Thousands of trucks haul sand daily.
Gov. Lilia Pineda adopted Panlilio’s strategies to combat corruption and anomalies in quarrying operations even as she even vowed to raise even more revenues for the provincial government from lahar sand.
During her first month in office last July, Pineda noted quarry income at P23 .5 million. Records indicated that quarry operations yielded P16,545,000 last January, P16,845,000 in February, P18,870,000 in March, P16,560,000 in April, and 9,255,000 in May.
