By Charissa Luci-Atienza
House leaders are calling on the authorities to put behind bars those behind the ambush on former Pangasinan Rep. Amado Espino Jr. in San Carlos City, Pangasinan Wednesday afternoon.
House of the Representatives (ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE PHOTO)
House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, and Deputy Speakers Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur and Raneo Abu of Batangas strongly condemned the incident that reportedly left Espino severely wounded and his police escort, PO3 Richard Esguerra killed.
“The House leadership under Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano condemns in the strongest possible terms the ambush incident. We appeal to our authorities to arrest those behind this dastardly act,” Romualdez said.
For his part, Villafuerte said the House leadership is counting on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to create a “task force” that would immediately hunt down the suspects.
“The House leadership is calling on the Philippine National Police (PNP) to form right away a strike force that would track down and
apprehend the suspects along with the brains behind this dastardly act—and to put all of them behind bars at the soonest possible time,” he said.
“Such a murderous act has no place in our society, especially under this administration that has won broad and deep
popular support because of its tough stance on crime,” he pointed out.
Abu called on authorities to "relentlessly pursue and arrest the suspects and mastermind.” “This (ambush) deplorable act of violence has no
place in a democratic society like ours,” he said.
According to reports, Espino is now in a safe condition after unidentified gunmen attacked him past 4 p.m. Wednesday while onboard his black Toyota Land Cruiser in Barangay Magtaking, San Carlos City.