Business rivalry eyed in Hermosa councilor’s murder

HERMOSA, Bataan — Police investigators are probing the business rivals of Councilor Danilo Basi, who was shot dead on Saturday (April 29) as he left his farm in Barangay (village) Mambog.

Hermosa Vice Mayor Christopher Vitug said he did not know of any other reason for the attack on Basi except for the business angle, which the police have started pursuing. Vitug did not elaborate.

Basi was pronounced dead on arrival at the Peninsula Emergency Hospital in nearby Dinalupihan town, due to gunshot wounds in the face and different parts of the body.

Witnesses told investigators that four men, wielding handguns and rifles and arriving in a black car, shot Vitug, said Senior Supt. Benjamin Silo, the Bataan police director,

Basi, 63, was the chairman of the council’s committee on finance and committee on senior citizens.

He served as barangay captain of Barangay (village) Mambog, before he ran and won a seat in the town council in 2016.

Basi was nicknamed “Danny Blade” by friends, due to his razor sharp business insights.

Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia has raised a P1 million bounty for the capture of Basi’s killers. Hermosa Mayor Antonio Joseph Inton has also offered a P300,000 reward for information that may help solve Basi’s murder.  SFM