Ex-accountant of Bataan gov’t found dead; cops eye suicide

PILAR, Bataan, Philippines – A former provincial accountant of Bataan was found dead with a bullet wound in the head inside his house in Barangay Rizal here on Monday, police said.

Initial reports said the wife of Numeriano Medina, 57, found him holding a .45 cal. pistol near the gate of their house before he was found dead.

Senior Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, Bataan police director, said it appeared that Medina, the administrator of the Bataan Common Terminal, shot himself in the mouth. The bullet pierced through Medina’s nape, killing him instantly.

Neighbors said they heard a gunshot shortly before 5 a.m. but they ignored it, thinking that somebody might have fired at the rats that abound in the village.

Medina and lawyer Renato Bagay, former legal adviser of former Bataan Gov. Leonardo Roman, had been recommended for dismissal from government service in connection with a graft case filed by Gov. Enrique Garcia Jr. with the Ombudsman.

Garcia filed the graft case in 2006 against Roman, Bagay, Medina, former Bataan administrator Romeo Mendiola and former Board Member Gregorio Uy before the Ombudsman in connection with a P290-million loan to fund the construction of Peninsula Heights, a government housing project in Samal town.

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