Pasig village councilor killed

The bullet-riddled vehicle driven by the slain barangay official —JODEE AGONCILLO

The Pasig police are looking into two angles—drugs and politics—following the killing of a barangay councilor by motorcycle-riding gunmen on Monday.

According to a report submitted to Eastern Police District director Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula, Barangay Sta. Lucia councilor Randy Ilagan was shot dead inside his sport utility vehicle on M. Eusebio Street, Barangay San Miguel, at 6:15 p.m. on Monday.

Responders from the Pasig City Emergency Unit declared the 37-year-old Ilagan dead on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds. At least 10 bullet casings and slugs were recovered from the crime scene.

Rescuers had to break the windows of the vehicle in order to get to the victim, whose belongings remained intact, according to case investigator PO2 Higino Dancel. Ilagan was shot around 50 meters away from two police precincts, the officer noted.

The police have formed a special task group to look into the killing of the barangay councilor, who Dancel said was previously linked to illegal drugs. “The Philippine National Police had been getting and validating reports about his alleged involvement in illegal drugs before. [But] he was not on our drug watch list,” he told the Inquirer.

But in an interview on Tuesday morning, Ilagan’s family members and barangay government workers dismissed the drug angle, saying the slain councilor was a good man who never got involved in the illegal trade.

“He was faced with several issues because people knew he would be running for barangay chair. But he did not have enemies, he was well-loved in the community,” said Ilagan’s personal secretary Gina Lapines.

Ilagan’s father used to be Barangay Sta. Lucia chair. Earlier, the victim, a second-termer, declared his intention to run for the barangay’s top post.