Man gunned down outside mayor’s house in Cebu province

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A man was shot and killed in front of the house of Sta. Mayor Jose Esgana in Barangay Talisay, Sta. Fe town on Bantayan Island, about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The fatality was identified as Gilbert Garcia Delima, 37, of Barangay Suba in nearby Bantayan town, based on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance found on him.

Bantayan Island, located in the northern tip of mainland Cebu, is composed of three towns – Sta Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos.

According to investigators, Delima was shot on the road fronting the mayor’s house. The victim was then brought inside the gate of Esgana’s house.

“We theorized that his body was dragged based on the blood stains or markings from the road toward the gate,” said PO3 Eugenio Santillan of the Sta. Fe police station.

Police found a .38 caliber revolver (Armscor 202) without a serial number and loaded with four live ammunitions. The gun was still in the victim’s left hand.

Police also recovered from the scene  five empty shells and two deformed slugs from a caliber .45 pistol.

Found on the road where the victim was shot was a black motorcycle (Motoposh) with plate number GD 21050.

Esgana told policemen that he was inside his house at 11:30 p.m. when he heard a series of gunshots. When he ran outside to check, he found the victim lying inside the gate of his house.

The house of Esgana is just 200 meters  from the public market and 300 meters from the police station located at the old municipal municipal building.

Santillan said police could not say yet if the killing was election related. He said they were trying to get statements from the relatives and to check the victim’s background./rga