Mayor dangles P100k reward for capture of village councilor killers

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol – Carmen Mayor Ricardo Francisco Toribio has put up a P100,000-reward for those who can give information that would lead to the immediate arrest of the four suspects in the murder of a village councilor over the weekend.

Lawyer Eliezer Cagol, municipal administrator, said on Wednesday that Toribio and former town mayor Conchita Toribio-delos Reyes chipped in to raise the amount in a bid to expedite the resolution of the case.

Cagol said Toribio has denounced the killing of Rufa Sugala, 37, a councilor of Barangay El Progreso in Carmen town. Sugala’s husband, Arturo, 45, was injured during the incident.

According to Cagol, Sugala was an active campaigner against illegal drugs and illegal gambling in her village barangay.

Reports reaching the Carmen Police Station revealed that the Sugalas, on board a motorcycle, were on their way to a meeting last Sunday, when four bonnet-wearing men suddenly blocked their path and shot at them.

The village councilor immediately succumbed to gunshot wounds while her husband, who was hit thrice in the legs and hands, was able to flee and ask for assistance from neighbors. The suspects managed to escape.

Arturo was rushed to the hospital and eventually declared out of danger after undergoing treatment.

PO3 Jason Redillas said they are pursuing a number of motives behind the ambush of the Sugalas.

Redillas said Arturo positively identified one of the suspects, who removed his bonnet during the incident.

Police said the Sugalas had not received any direct threat on their lives prior to the attack.  But Redillas said they are looking into the possibility that the suspects targeted the village councilor because she had been naming drug personalities in the area.

/kga