Cagayan governor faces raps over gun attack

MAMBA

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Police filed attempted murder charges against reelected Cagayan Gov. Alvaro Antonio in connection with the gun attack on a convoy of vehicles carrying a Malacañang official, his security escorts and supporters on May 13, Election Day.

The filing of the charges in the prosecutor’s office in Tuguegarao City is meant to “purge” the province of its “culture of impunity,” according to Secretary Manuel Mamba, head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office.

Mamba had accused Antonio of firing at his four-vehicle convoy as it passed Alcala town at past 2 p.m. on May 13. He said the filing of the charges would send the message that “in this present democratic and civilized society, no one is above the law.”

“This (culture of impunity) has got to stop. People should be made to answer for what they do,” he said.

The Inquirer tried but failed to reach Antonio for his side. No one from his team of lawyers was also available to comment on the issue on Friday and Saturday.

In earlier media interviews, however, Antonio denied Mamba’s accusations.

In a May 20 report, investigators from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group recommended the filing of attempted murder charges against Antonio and still unidentified suspects who were reportedly with the governor during the attack.

In its report, the investigation team, headed by Senior Supt. Joselito Esquivel, said the governor fired at Mamba’s convoy with an AK-47 assault rifle as it was traversing the national highway in Barangay Centro Norte in Alcala.

In sworn statements, complainants Mamba and his companions, who included three police and seven civilians, said they saw Antonio standing near a waiting shed, “brandishing a long firearm.” They claimed that Antonio appeared to have been “preparing to [shoot] as their convoy drove past the Alcala town hall.”

“As my vehicle was moving forward, I heard a burst of gunfire behind me. I found out later that the fourth vehicle in our convoy, the dark green Ford Expedition, was hit by shots from Governor Antonio’s rifle,” said Mamba, who was riding in the first vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner.

Submitted as supporting documents in the complaint were statements from Alcala residents who witnessed the shooting, pictures of the vehicle with bullet holes and a certification from the Philippine National Police’s firearms and explosives office saying Antonio has 13 licensed firearms registered under his name, seven of which are AK-47 rifles. Melvin Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon