Couple gunned down in Cavite gas station

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Philippines — A couple who was waiting for their daughter in a gasoline station was shot dead by unidentified men on a motorcycle early Thursday.

The shooting happened around 7:40 a.m. at a roadside Shell gas station in Barangay (village) Tabon 1, Kawit, Cavite.

The victims, Juan Espinola and wife Julieta, both 51, were standing outside their car waiting for their daughter, a college student who was living in Las Piñas City, the police said.

Based on initial investigation, Police Officer 3 John Paulo Mellona, Kawit officer on case, said two gunmen, both armed and wearing helmets over their faces, approached the victims and shot them several times.

Julieta died on the spot. Bystanders brought Juan to the Divine Grace Hospital in Genera Trias town in Cavite but he too died three hours later.

Police recovered at least four bullet casings from the scene.

In a phone interview, Mellona said the police learned that the husband worked as a driver for a former politician in Imus City while the wife was known to be engaged in money lending.

The couple lived in Barangay (village) Toclong, also in Kawit.

“We are more inclined to find out if the wife had enemies (because of her means of income),” Mellona said when asked what angles the police have been pursuing. Even so, he declined to release the name of the politician the husband was working for.

RELATED STORY

Retired soldier shoots self in Cavite