Caloocan village chair slain; 4th to be killed this year

The Caloocan City police are investigating the July 12 killing of a barangay chair, the fourth village official in the city to be gunned down by unidentified assailants this year.

A report to Senior Supt. Roberto Fajardo, Northern Police District director, said Barangay 106 chair Francisco Guevarra was walking home between 9th Avenue and M.H. Del Pilar Street on Wednesday afternoon when he was shot several times by motorcycle-riding gunmen.

Guevarra was brought by his brother to MCU Hospital, where the victim was pronounced dead on arrival. Senior Supt. Chito Bersaluna, Caloocan police chief, has ordered a manhunt operation against the attackers.

According to Bersaluna, Guevarra was the fourth village chair in Caloocan to fall victim to vigilante-style killings since January.

But unlike the other slain officials, Guevarra was not included on the police drug watch list, Bersaluna said.

The latest victim, however, earlier approached Bersaluna to “clear his name” after receiving wrong information that he was on the list.

“He was not on our list, but we still processed his information because he personally came to us. He also tested negative for drugs. We endorsed the report that he was cleared on our list to the district headquarters,” the city police chief told the Inquirer on Thursday.

The victim’s family expressed outrage over the killing, demanding the immediate arrest of the perpetrators. They said Guevarra had no known enemies and was very active in the campaign against drugs in the barangay.