Lawmaker’s son, aide shot dead in CDO

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A son of Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rolando Uy and his aide were shot and killed by an unidentified gunman in a quarry site in the village of Pagatpat here on Thursday, police said.

A report by Police Senior Master Sergeant Roldan Sayatao of the Pagatpat station said Roland Sherwin Uy, 45, and Samuel Pabalan, 73, were found dead in a house within a quarry site at Zone 1 in Pagatpat at around 1 p.m.

Reports said the younger Uy, a village council member of Barangay Carmen, had been frequenting the area to oversee his quarry business. Pabalan was the site’s caretaker.

Rubie Alayuay, Uy’s driver, told police that he was in the toilet when he heard Uy having a conversation with an unidentified person who purportedly asked to buy sand and gravel.

Alayuay said gunshots then rang out and, out of fear, he said he did not leave the toilet. After the burst of gunfire, he then heard the sound of a motorcycle leaving the area.

Police found Uy on a folding chair with a bullet wound in his left eye while Pabalan was sprawled on the ground with a bullet wound in his right eye.

Mayor Oscar Moreno went to the crime scene after receiving reports about the attack. Moreno has endorsed Uy’s father, Rolando, to succeed him as mayor.

Like Moreno, Representative Uy is completing his third and final term in office. The lawmaker’s other son, Vice Mayor Joaquin Uy, is seeking to replace him as representative of the city’s first congressional district. —REPORTS FROM DIVINA M. SUSON AND JIGGER J. JERUSALEM