Pangasinan town councilor sought for shooting of ex-Army colonel

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—A municipal councilor of Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, allegedly shot and injured a retired Army colonel shortly before dusk Sunday in Barangay (village) San Alejandro within the town.

Senior Superintendent Marlou Chan, provincial police director, said that witnesses saw Councilor Gilbert Cantoria point and fire a gun at Arnold Blanco, a retired Army colonel, at about 5:20 p.m. Sunday.

Chan said Blanco was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment.

Cantoria escaped immediately after the shooting, using his Honda Civic sedan, which police investigators found abandoned on a road side in Barangay Bantog in neighboring Asingan town, at about 7 p.m.

Earlier last Nov. 1 Cantoria and Blanco were seen having a heated exchange, Chan said.

Investigators are now looking at the possibility that an old grudge between the two might have triggered the shooting.