The Philippine National Police (PNP) said Friday, Oct. 4, that it has created a special investigation task group (SITG) to solve the killing of Bulacan provincial board member Ramilito Capistrano and his driver.
In a statement, Central Luzon Police Regional Office (PRO-3) director, Police Brigadier General Redrico Maranan condemned the shooting to death of Capistrano, a provincial board member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in Bulacan and president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) in the province; and his driver, Shedrick Suarez.
“I have immediately ordered the creation of SITG Capistrano to conduct an in-depth probe on this incident and we are looking into all angles to establish possible motives,” Maranan said.
Capistrano was peppered with bullets by unidentified gunmen on Thursday night, Oct. 3, while onboard a Mitsubishi Montero driven by Suarez along Service Road in Brgy. Ligas, Malolos City, Bulacan.
According to initial investigation, Capistrano had even attended the regular session of the 11th Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) before the ambush.
“We are exerting all means and all necessary resources will be utilized to get into the bottom of this unfortunate incident as we are now in the process of gathering pieces of evidence that will lead us to the identification of the culprit/s,” Maranan said.
“We assure the public, as well as the victims' families of our total commitment to ensure immediate resolution of the case through proper investigation,” he added.
Maranan noted that the case will be treated as a “priority” because “a local official is involved.”
The PRO-3 said that four to five suspects might be involved in the case and investigators already have a "good lead" to identify them.
A closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage was retrieved by the PRO-3 showing one of the suspects.
Meanwhile, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said that Capistrano’s case cannot be categorized immediately as an election-related violence.
“Hindi pa natin siya maka-categorize as an election-related incident dahil may parameters po ang isang incident para po siya maisama doon sa election-related incidents. Wala pa po tayo sa election period. Magsisimula lang po ang election period sa January 12 (We cannot categorize it as an election-related incident because there are parameters before an incident can be included in the list of election-related incidents. We are not yet in the election period. The election period will start on January 12),” Fajardo explained.
“Isa po iyon sa (That is one of the) parameters before an incident can be categorized as an election related incident,” she said.
Fajardo said that all angles including business, personal life, and politics are being investigated to determine the exact motive.
The PNP urged the public to report to the nearest police station or thru its hotline, 0998-598-5330 or 0917-623-5700 if they have information that may lead to the quick resolution of the case.