Perennial village poll bet shot dead in Marikina

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA — A  65-year-old man who had been consistently running for barangay (village) chairman in the past three elections was shot dead in broad daylight by an unidentified suspect in Marikina City.

Senior Superintendent Lorenzo Holanday, Jr., Marikina City police chief, said Henry Castro, 65, was gunned down near his house at no. 55 Lakandula St., in Barangay Parang in Marikina City,  around 9:40 am. on Thursday.

Village watchman Gary Carmona said Castro was earlier seen by witnesses walking from the market with plastic of goods and covering his head with a newspaper due to the rain before they heard a lone gunshot.

Around five minutes after, they saw Castro lying face down with his goods scattered on the pavement.

None of the witnesses could point out yet if the gunman arrived on a motorbike or was merely walking, said Chief Inspector Eduardo Cayetano, head of the investigation unit of the Marikina Police. The gunman could have waited for the victim, he added.

Castro, who suffered a lone gunshot wound in the head, died on the spot, Cayetano said.

The police are looking into his current involvements as a barangay coordinator, and crime of passion as angles to the investigation.

Castro was also a supporter of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for Federalism movement, according to some residents, police said. He also ran for barangay chairman at least three times and lost, Carmona added.

Cayetano said Castro was not on the drug watch list.

A check of the police records said Castro was released from detention at the Marikina police station in 2012 for an estafa case after breaking a contract amounting to P100,000.

Police have been reviewing the closed circuit television footage installed in the barangay.  SFM/rga