Ex-mayor’s brother involved in drug trade shot dead

Ambush investigation (File photo by Junjie Mendoza, CDN/INQUIRER)

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna — An alleged big time drug pusher and brother of former long time San Pablo City mayor Vicente Amante was shot dead in San Pablo City, in Laguna province, past noon on Thursday.

Damaso Amante, 64, was driving his car when waylaid and shot dead by unknown gunmen around 1:30 p.m. in Barangay (village) Del Remedio, said the Laguna police director, Senior Supt. Joel Pernito in a phone interview. Damaso died on the way to the hospital.

Damaso was a younger brother of Vicente, who held San Pablo’s mayoral seat from 1992 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2013 until he was succeeded by his son, Loreto.

In May 2016, Damaso ran under the Nationalist People’s Coalition but lost as fourth district representative of Laguna. The Amantes are under the United Nationalist Alliance party.

In an interview in August, Vicente named Damaso as an illegal drug “pusher” and their other brother Edwin as a “user.”

Vicente said he wanted to clear his name of any involvement in  drug trafficking after President Rodrigo Duterte named the Amantes as among local officials included on the drug watch list.

Damaso also faced illegal drug charges following raids in 2001 and 2007, but cases filed against him were eventually dismissed.  SFM/rga