Quezon town vice mayor shot dead

LUCENA CITY – A lone gunman shot and killed the incumbent vice mayor of San Andres, Quezon inside the town official’s residence Tuesday night.

Vice Mayor Sergio “Popoy” Emprese, 60, was in the living room of his residence in Calmar Homes Subdivision in Barangay Ibabang Dupay when he was shot in the head at around 8:40 p.m., Lt. Colonel Reydante Ariza, Lucena City police chief, said in a spot report.

Slain San Andres, Quezon Vice Mayor Sergio Emprese

The gunman fled immediately after the attack.

Emprese was brought to hospital where he expired while being revived.

Further investigation and pursuit operations against the gunman are ongoing.

Emprese, also served as the town’s mayor, was the patriarch of a political clan that ruled the coastal town for several decades.

His wife Sonia and son Serson also served a town mayor and vice mayor.

Serson, however, lost in the mayoralty race in the recent midterm elections,  marred by at least three poll-related killings.

The municipality of San Andres, facing the Ragay Gulf, is a fourth class municipality in the southernmost tip of the province,  128 kilometers from Lucena City./gsg