Agri research foundation chair’s bookkeeper, colleague slain in gun attack

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Police have yet to determine the motive in the killing of a female bookkeeper and her colleague, following an ambush here late Thursday, the police said Friday.

The victims, Crispina Mendoza, 55, (initially identified by the police as Rufina Mendoza) and Wilma Aguinaldo, 60, both died in a hospital after the car they were riding in was shot at by gunmen around 5:15 p.m. Thursday, in Barangay (village) Lalakay, here.

The gunmen escaped but left behind the motorcycle which they used in the attack, said Los Baños police chief Supt. Alex delos Santos.

Mendoza, a resident of this town, was a private bookkeper and worked together with Aguinaldo for Dr. Feliciano Calora Sr., a retired University of the Philippines Los Baños professor and present chairman of the board of the Philippine Agriculture Resources and Research Foundation, Inc. (PARRFI).

PARRFI is a science foundation assisting institutions engaged in research and development. Mendoza and Aguinaldo, however, were not employees of PARRFI, the Inquirer confirmed.

Calora had already given his statement to investigators, delos Santos said.

“We have yet to pinpoint the motive but we are looking into the nature of their work,” delos Santos said in a phone interview.

He said the victims were “always seen together,” based on their colleagues’ accounts, and so “it appears both of them could be the targets,” he added.