Brother of suspects in slay of Quezon town councilor shot dead

LUCENA CITY – The brother of two primary suspects in the killing of a Sariaya councilor last week was shot and killed noontime Friday.

Supt. Rafael Torres, Sariaya police chief, said Wilfredo Gesmundo, 53, while traveling aboard a motorcycle was repeatedly shot by suspected gunman Raymond Villota, alias “Emon,” using a handgun in Barangay (village) Sampaloc 2 in Sariaya around 12 noon.

The victim suffered multiple bullet wounds and was taken to a hospital in the town center but died along the way. After the shooting, the suspect fled aboard a motorcycle.

“But several witnesses were able to identify the gunman. We’re now hunting him,” Torres said in a phone interview.

Police said the victim was a brother of Ramil and Reynaldo Gesmundo, the principal suspects in the killing of Sariaya Councilor Aristeo Ilao last week. Ilao, a first termer councilor, was gunned down inside his house also in the same village.

Torres said they have yet to establish the motive in the killing of Gesmundo.