Village chief who got shot turns out to be a suspect in Cagayan murder case

MANILA, Philippines—A shooting victim in Manila City turned out to be a suspect in a murder case in Cagayan province.

Roldan de Asis, 45, a barangay captain from Centro North West, Solana, is now being closely guarded by Cagayan police at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, as he recuperates from a gunshot wound inflicted by a province-mate on Claro M. Recto Avenue in Manila on January 29.

“It’s confirmed. There were warrant of arrests out for [De Asis] for murder and frustrated murder. The Cagayan police came here on Monday bringing the warrants with them,” the case investigator, Police Officer 3 Amelito Lopez of the Manila Police District Homicide section, told the Inquirer in an interview.

De Asis was shot in broad daylight on Sunday on his left torso by a carpenter and fellow Cagayan resident, Jose Buendia, 52.

De Asis had sought help from nearby policemen, who had pursued Buendia and shot him dead as he moved to shoot at the police.

De Asis was brought to the JRMMC for treatment, as the police investigated the identities of the parties.

They learned from online news reports that De Asis, barangay captain of Centro South West, is a suspect in the shooting of rival political party supporters in May 2010 in Barangay Bangag, Solana, Cagayan. He has been at-large since then.

Before that, he was also suspected of masterminding an attempted assassination on a Cagayan policeman in April 2010.

The Manila police then coordinated with the Cagayan police to bring De Asis to justice.

As for Buendia, Lopez said that considering De Asis’ history, Buendia may have been one of the barangay captain’s many enemies and may have had “a previous grudge” with him. Buendia was allegedly in Manila to visit his daughter.

Lopez dismissed suggestions Buendia might have been a hired killer, noting that Buendia had only used a homemade gun. “If he were hired, he would have been equipped well,” Lopez pointed out, in Filipino.