(UPDATE 5) Second Comelec legal chief dies in ambush
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 13:28:00 03/24/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Just four months after his superior was killed with a single gunshot, Commission on Elections (Comelec) acting legal director Wynne Butu Asdala died similarly in an ambush by two motorcycle-riding gunmen at Intramuros, Manila, past noon on Monday.
Asdala, who sustained a lone gunshot wound on the left clavicle, passed away 3:40 p.m. at the Manila Doctors Hospital, where he was rushed after the 12:40 p.m. ambush at the corner of Andres Soriano Avenue and Cabildo Street, Station 5 commander Superintendent Rogelio Rosales said.
Rosales said the 55-year-old lawyer had just eaten lunch at Sub Court restaurant with stenographer Rena Ballo when the unidentified men on a red motorcycle without license plates gunned down the Comelec official. The killers immediately fled toward Port Area and escaped arrest.
Asdala replaced Comelec legal chief Alioden Dalabia Dalaig, who was shot dead by a lone gunman at the corner of M.H. Del Pilar and Pedro Gil Streets on November 10, 2007.
Dalaig was reportedly crossing the street from Hyatt Hotel and Casino and carrying P300,000 cash when he was met by the gunman. The murder remained unsolved.
"There is a possibility that the two cases are linked because Asdala is also a Muslim, and he took over the post of a director who was also assassinated. We're still trying to get witnesses because nobody, not even Ballo, had a good look at the gunmen," Rosales said.
Unlike the former Comelec chief's case where a robbery angle was explored, Rosales claimed Asdala's was a "clear case of killing" since the gunmen hurriedly escaped after the shooting.
"I've already instructed my investigators to gather information at the Comelec regarding incidents handled by the law department that may link the two cases of killing," he said, stressing that both directors were killed with a single shot on the left chest.
Probers were set to interview Asdala's family to check if the Comelec acting director received death threats prior his killing, as Dalaig had, the police official said.
Rosales added that they had yet to determine the kind of gun used since there was no weapon or slug recovered from the crime scene.
Acting Comelec chairman Romeo Brawner condemned “in strongest possible terms the cowardly and dastardly act.”
He said the poll body would coordinate with the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation on the search for the perpetrators of this “heinous crime.”
Brawner also called on the entire Comelec bureaucracy to “stand (their) ground and not to dampen their spirit in discharging (their) duties as vanguards of democracy.”
Rosales said investigators remained clueless about the identity of the assailants and the motive for the ambush.
"The bystanders could not immediately establish the suspects' identity," said Rosales in a phone interview, adding the driver wore a helmet while the gunman wore a bonnet.
Witnesses also failed to get the motorcycle's plate number, Rosales said.
"I cannot say the motives at this point. We still don’t know why. If we give the motive we will just be guessing and jumping into conclusions," he said. With reports from Veronica Uy and Thea Alberto, INQUIRER.net
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