Owner of vehicle used in vice mayor’s killing now ‘person of interest’

MURDER VEHICLE The pickup truck used in the assassination of Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan, of Trece Martires City, found abandoned in this ditch.—PHOTO FROM CAVITE PNP

SAN PEDRO CITY — Police had identified the owner of the pickup truck used by gunmen in the killing of Trece Martires City Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan and now considered the vehicle owner to be another “person of interest” in the case.

Senior Supt. William Segun, Cavite provincial police director, on Tuesday said investigators already knew who owned the black Toyota Hilux that residents found abandoned in the town of Maragondon, Cavite province, on July 11.

Lubigan and his driver Romulo Guillemer were killed on July 7 in a gun attack that authorities described as politically motivated.

Too many numbers

Segun said police could not yet reveal the name of the pickup truck owner because it would preempt investigation.

The pickup truck matched witnesses’ description of the vehicle used by gunmen in their escape.

Police said there were attempts to deface the vehicle’s engine and chassis numbers “but there were still too many numbers (in the vehicle) for it to be traced,” Segun said.

He said that based on records, the vehicle “was not stolen,” making the owner the police’s newest person of interest in addition to the first three people authorities had earlier tagged.

Segun said authorities had gone to the owner’s registered address “outside Cavite” but had yet to locate the person.

Another case

In Batangas, police are still investigating the attack on former Santo Tomas Vice Mayor Ferdinand Ramos.

Santo Tomas police chief Supt. Rexpher Gaoiran said Ramos, who lost in the 2016 elections, was outside his residence when a lone gunman shot the former official in the face on July 14.

Gaoiran said a security camera in the vicinity caught footage of the gunman but the man used an umbrella as cover.

Ramos, according to police, was transferred to a hospital in Quezon City on Monday.

His vital signs were stable but he remained “unresponsive,” Gaoiran said.

Quoting the family, Gaoiran said Ramos had no plan to run for any position in the 2019 elections although there were threats on Ramos’ life.