3 dead as gunmen open fire at Laguna village hall

CAMP PACIANO RIZAL, Laguna — Three persons were killed after four unidentified armed men attacked a village hall in Biñan City, Laguna Sunday evening, the police said on Monday.

Senior Superintendent Pascual Muñoz, Laguna police director, in a phone interview, named the victims as Edwin Salosa and Ogie Villavicencio, both village councilors, and Arnaldo Salosa, a watchman, in Barangay (village) Mamplasan in Biñan City.

Another watchman, Cristobal Sorilla, was wounded in the attack.

Muñoz said the victims were at the barangay hall when at least four men, all wearing baseball caps, arrived around 9:45 p.m.

“But only one of (the gunmen) entered the barangay hall and opened fire. The others waited as lookouts outside,” he said, based on footages captured by a security camera.

A problem, however he said, was that the footages were “dark and the suspects could not be immediately identified.”

Muñoz said Mamplasan village chief Rommel Dicdican and his wife, who were also at the scene, were unscathed after they sought cover in another room inside the village hall.

The gunmen escaped aboard a car.

Muñoz admitted they could not say yet whether the assailants targeted a particular person as investigation continued.

He said that even as Dicdican claimed it could be related to the upcoming barangay elections in October, police could not yet conclude anything at this time. Dicdican is seeking reelection in the October barangay elections.