By Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City–A 57-year-old former barangay captain and his 7-year-old son were killed in an ambush late afternoon of Monday (Decem,ber 11) at Barangay Casilion in Villaba, Leyte. His 52-year-old wife sustained minor injuries and survived.
Police identified the fatalities as Danilo Tentiro Mates, formerly a kagawad and then barangay captain of the barangay where the ambush took place. He had multiple gunshot wounds, and died on the spot.
Danilo’s juvenile son, was hit in the stomach, was rushed to Gatchalian Hospital in Ormoc City where he eventually died while being treated. Danilo’s wife, Marivic, only suffered a few injuries in her body.
According to the Villaba Police report, the station received a call from a concerned resident informing that a shooting incident took place at Barangay Casilion at about 5:10 p.m. The Villaba Police immediately responded but, upon reaching the place, members of the Matag-ob Police were already there securing the crime scene.
On why the police of Matag-ob, a neighboring town, were at the scene ahead of the responding Villaba Police, there was no mention in the latter’s report.
Operatives of the Scene Of The Crime Office (SOCO) arrived at the crime scene, about 16 kilometers from the Villaba Police Station, and found that Danilo suffered 17 gunshot wounds, two of which were fatal to hit his head.
Based on initial investigation, the victims were riding on their motorcycle from their farm off a sitio of Casilion, but upon reaching the barangay road going to Barangay Sambulawan of the same barangay, a man on a black XRM motorcycle waylaid them and fired shots at them, although the main target was obviously Danilo.
Immediately after the shooting, the unidentified gunman reportedly left the scene towards a yet unverified direction.
The local media later learned that Danilo was a barangay leader of former congressman Vicente “Ching” Veloso, but there were no other details regarding this.
Authorities however saw the possible connection of this ambush of Danilo and his family to the shooting incident the day before at Leyte town of Leyte resulting in the killing of a bodyguard of Jed Granados, also a supporter of the former congressman.
Meanwhile, the Villaba Police is currently in hot pursuit operation against the ambush gunman, while it is coordinating with nearby municipal police stations for the possible identification and arrest of the perpetrator. —Miriam G. Desacada