Police files raps vs. Victoria mayor’s attackers

By RPCRD, Police Regional Office 8
May 6, 2013

CAMP KANGLEON, Palo, Leyte – The police have filed criminal charges on Friday against two people tagged as responsible for a gun attack that injured a town mayor and his son in Northern Samar.

Eastern Visayas Police Director Police Chief Superintendent Elmer Ragadio Soria informed that two cases of Frustrated Murder charges were filed before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Catarman, Northern Samar against Albert Kennedy y Bolon and Precillano Aliganza y Peñaflor under NPS Docket No. VIII-II-INQ-13E-00018.

“The suspects were positively identified by witnesses as the assailants in the Thursday night shooting that wounded Victoria town Mayor Jose Ardales and son Jorge,” Soria said.

The two were tagged as responsible for the gun attack around 8:00 Thursday evening while the victims were crossing the pathway along San Joaquin St., Barangay Zone 1 Poblacion in Victoria town to verify a gun burst they heard from the compound of Guillermo Jumamil, the mayor’s political opponent, that resulted in the wounding of the elder Ardales on his neck while his son was hit on his abdomen.

The suspects rushed inside the compound of Jumamil, who presented the duo upon request from police authorities, and were immediately brought to Northern Samar Police Provincial Office for investigation.

The victims, meanwhile, are confined at Catarman Doctor’s Hospital and are now reportedly out of danger.

The mayor, who was preventively suspended by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in Northern Samar due to an administrative case, is running for reelection under the National Unity Party (NUP).

But despite of the incident, the situation in Northern Samar is within manageable level, according to Soria.

“This will not affect the peaceful conduct of electoral proceedings in the area or in the entire province,” he said.

A police team from the Northern Samar Provincial Public Safety Company (NSPPSC) were immediately augmented to Victoria Police Station on Friday while additional one team from the Regional Pubic Safety Battalion 8 (RPSB8) were deployed in the area aside from one section from the Army’s 803rd Brigade.

“The augmentation is done to prevent the occurrence of similar incident in the area as well as to maintain peace and order as the election day draws near,” the police regional chief added.