Engineer gunned down in Batangas; Laguna village councilor shot dead

SAN PEDRO CITY – A project engineer of an energy company in Batangas City and a village councilor in Alaminos town in Laguna province were killed in separate shooting incidents, police said on Monday.

In Batangas, Edwin Panaligan, the project engineer of a power plant, was shot and killed around 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Barangay Balagtas.

Lt. Col. Sancho Celedio, Batangas City police chief, said Panaligan had just come out of the cockpit and was on board his parked car when gunned down. The gunmen escaped on foot, the police report said.

Celedio declined to disclose a possible motive as investigation continued, but an Inquirer source, who declined to be identified, said the attack was “likely” driven by personal grudges.

In Laguna, Cesar Tolentino, a councilor in Barangay San Andres was ambushed around 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Barangay San Roque, San Pablo City.

San Pablo City police chief Lt. Col. Eliseo Bernales, in a phone interview Monday, said Tolentino was driving his Ford Everest, when gunmen, riding in tandem on a motorcycle, drove by and shot the victim.

Tolentino died on the way to the Panlalawigang Pagamutan ng Laguna. (Editor: Eden Estopace)