Land row, revenge angles probed in slay of defeated Pampanga vice mayoral bet

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The police are investigating a land feud and a homicide case to solve the murder of a defeated Floridablanca vice mayoral candidate in Pampanga province on Friday (June 1), according to Senior Supt. Nicolas Salvador, Pampanga police director, on Saturday (June 2).

Cenen Tungol, 51, was shot dead at his farm in Barangay (village) San Jose past 12 p.m. A farmer found Tungol’s body riddled with bullets. The gunman left the crime scene using the victim’s jeep.

Tungol was part of a group that is opposing a sanitary landfill project initiated by Malaysian firm, Berjaya Corporation Bhd, in Barangay Pabanlag.

But the 91-hectare-lot that would host the landfill was purchased from the Amurungan family and was not part of a contested property nor was it an ancestral domain, said Michael Tapang, Berjaya Philippine representative.

“We have nothing to gain from Mr. Tungol’s death because the project is already undergoing a process required by law for environmentally sensitive projects. Public consultations were wrapped up last April. The environmental impact assessment is ongoing,” Tapang said when reached by telephone. “We have no reason to harm him,” he stressed.

The police are also checking if the attack was connected to a 2016 homicide case.

Salvador said Tungol was a person-of-interest in the killing of Jaime Sotto, a farmer, who was gunned down as he and his daughter traveled home on a bicycle. Sotto led mass protests to demand the distribution of a 164-ha property.

Tungol was the running mate of Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino mayoral bet Tito Mendiola during the 2016 national polls.