By Martin A. Sadongdong and Nel B. Andrade
Antipolo City, Rizal — A police official was killed and his live-in partner critically wounded when a motorcycle-riding gunman ambushed them in Antipolo City, Rizal early yesterday morning.
Superintendent Ramy Tagnong, chief of the legal department of the Police Regional Office 4-A (PRO4-A) and a resident of YCM Compound, Barangay Mahabang Parang, Angono, Rizal succumbed to multiple bullet wounds in the body.
His live-in partner, Maria Angela Cabaltera Hadap, 36, survived the ambush but sustained three bullet wounds in the back and one in the arm, said Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, director of the PRO4-A covering Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon).
Tagnong and Hadap were traveling on board a red Toyota Innova when a masked gunman opened fire at their vehicle as they reached Barangay Dalig 1, Antipolo City at 6:40 a.m.
Eleazar said the victims were supposed to attend First Friday Mass at Quiapo Church when the incident happened.
The gunman immediately fled the scene while local residents called for help, police said. Witnesses couldn’t identify the gunman as they said he was wearing a helmet and the ambush happened so quickly.
Homicide investigators are considering the attack on Tagnong as work-related. Eleazar ordered for a thorough probe and a follow-up operation to identify and trace the location of the assailant.