Vice mayor fights off gunmen but driver dies in Ilocos attack

LAOAG CITY—The vice mayor of Marcos town in Ilocos Norte province fought off two gunmen in an attack that killed his driver and wounded two municipal employees on Tuesday night, police said. Vice Mayor Jessie Ermitanio, 42, was in the back seat of his car when two men opened fire at his vehicle at 7:30 p.m. on a dirt road between the villages of Ragas and Daquioag in Marcos, according to Senior Insp. Lauro Milan, town police chief. Ermitanio said he jumped out of the car and fired back using an automatic rifle until his attackers withdrew and fled. He was hit in the shoulders and left thigh. His driver, Lucky Jesrel Rumbaoa, 21, was hit and died before reaching the hospital. —LEILANIE ADRIANO