Barangay chair 5th slain in Manila this year

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada ordered police to arrest the killers of Barangay 20 chair Arnel “Bong” Parce of Tondo, who was gunned down on Wednesday night.

Parce had received deaths threats because of his “stern antidrug campaign,” City Hall said in a statement on Friday.
It also noted that Parce was the fifth village chief in the city to be killed by unidentified gunmen this year.

The others were Tito Cardoza of Barangay 106, Tondo, (killed on Jan. 25); Nenina Acuña of Barangay 200, Tondo (March 3); Angelito Sarmiento of Barangay 751, Malate (May 26); and Dante Gonzalo of Barangay 670, Ermita (June 26).

Another chair, Kristo Hispano of Barangay 649, Tondo, survived an ambush after attending an event at Manila Hotel on June 21.

The statement quoted the Manila Police Distric director, Chief Supt. Joel Coronel, as saying that among the slain local officials, only Sarmiento was on the MPD’s drug watch list.

Estrada said he personally knew Parce, describing him as “very competent, industrious and down to earth.”