Wounded partylist lawmaker received death threat, says police prober

MANILA, Philippines — The party-list lawmaker who was shot and wounded Sunday afternoon had once received a death threat sometime in October this year, investigators said Monday.

“Congressman, mag-ingat ka. Tutuluyan ka namin [Congressman, take care. We will kill you],” the bodyguard of Kakusa Partylist Representative Ranulfo Canonigo told the police, quoting the unknown text sender.

Canonigo was shot at least thrice by two men aboard a motorcycle on Sunday past 5 p.m. just when he was about to alight from his Suzuki APV van and enter his home in Fairlane Subdivision in Barangay Concepcion Uno, Marikina City.

Canonigo’s bodyguard told police that the threat sent through a text message was read aloud to them by their boss sometime in October. The aides were not aware who would want the lawmaker killed.

“But according to them, [Canonigo] ignored it thinking it might not be serious,” said Police Officer 3 Efren Antor, one of the investigators of the Marikina police handling the case.

Canonigo is a representative of Kakusa (Kapatiran Ng Mga Nakulong Na Walang Sala) Party-list, a group representing prisoners and detainees who claim to have been wrongfully accused of crimes. A native of Zamboanga City, he has been renting a house in Marikina while he fulfills his duty as a member of the Congress.

Antor said they have not spoken to the lawmaker who has been set to undergo an operation for his wounds at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Global City, Taguig.