Cagayan vice mayor, aides charged for councilor’s slay

TUGUEGARAO CITY — Murder complaints were filed on Tuesday against the vice mayor of Rizal town and two of his aides for the murder of Councilor Alfredo Alvarez on Sunday in Barangay San Gabriel here.

Vice Mayor Joel Ruma was accused of masterminding the attack on Alvarez, according to Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, Cagayan Valley regional police director. His employees – Eloy Baloran and Jessie Labang – were identified as the motorcycle-riding gunmen who allegedly ambushed the councilor as he drove through the city.

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Espino said security cameras helped identify Baloran, who is at large. Labang was arrested by Solana town police in Cagayan province, but he denied taking part in the ambush.

Alvarez’s killing was the second high-profile murder in Rizal town. In 2008, Mayor Raul Dela Cruz was killed in an ambush.

Meanwhile, in Nueva Vizcaya province on Monday, a village chief was shot by a lone gunman in Bagabag town. Reynaldo Garcia, 55, of Barangay Villaros is now in critical condition at a private hospital in Solano town in Nueva Vizcaya.

Bagabag police said Garcia was crossing the road to look for his carabao when the gunman appeared from a waiting shed and shot him three times. /ee