Bullet holes on left side and windshield of the mayor’s SUV. Photos by Armand M. Galang
SAN ANTONIO, Nueva Ecija –– Mayor Arvin Salonga of this town was unscathed while his civilian security was hurt in an ambush staged by four men in nearby Jaen town at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday
Nueva Ecija police director Col. Marvin Joe Saro said investigators have gathered CCTV footages, one of which showed some suspects on board a single motorcycle.
Investigators gathered 11 empty shells of still undetermined firearms in the scene of the ambush.
Saro said he visited Salonga to ensure the local chief executive was well.
“As of ngayon, nakakuha ng mga footages at ongoing ang investigation,” Saro added.
Salonga said he was driving an SUV (ZTU 515) with his driver security, Danny Camelo, 53, at the passenger seat on the way home from San Leonardo town when fired upon by four people upon crossing a bridge in Jaen.
The place was some 300 meters from a police-manned quarantine checkpoint, Salonga said.
Camelo sustained “a shallow wound and was declared safe,” the mayor said.
Some of the suspects who apparently waited on the roadside reported to be wearing short pants and armed with short firearms.
Salonga, who had not employed any police security since 2016, readily discounted politics as possible motive behind the attack, noting he was unopposed during the last election.
“Ngayon naman ay walang nagpaparamdam at wala pang kasiguruhan (election) dahil sa pandemya,” he said.
