Mayor dies 5 days after gun attack in Nueva Ecija

CABANATUAN CITY—Mayor Restituto Abad of Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, died at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City on Wednesday, five days after he and a security aide were shot by two men in Guimba town.

Abad suffered two bullet wounds in the armpit and shoulder while Pfc. Satty Duclayan, his driver and bodyguard, took three bullets in the neck and hand.

Abad’s wife, Mary, who was also on board the mayor’s Ford Everest, was unhurt.

Police said Abad and his wife attended a Freemasonry event in Guimba and were on their way home when they were attacked in Barangay Saranay at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Abad was taken to the Guimba District Hospital and later to the Nueva Ecija Doctors’ Hospital on Saturday. He was later transferred to St. Luke’s Medical Center for further treatment.

Police have filed charges against Jose Berlino Pascual Gonzales, the motorcycle driver, who was arrested immediately after the attack.

The gunman, Jonathan Carpio, and the other suspects have yet to be arrested but charges have been filed against them at the Nueva Ecija prosecutor’s office. Police have yet to establish the motive for the killing.

Peñaranda Mayor Ferdinand Abesamis, head of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines’ chapter in Nueva Ecija, said the province’s mayors had condemned Abad’s slaying.

Board Member Joseph Ortiz described Abad, a first-term mayor, as a low-profile official. Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon