BANGUED, Abra – A businessman died and his wife was wounded after they were shot by motorcycle-riding gunmen while tending to their rice store in Barangay San Ramon, Manabo, Abra on Tuesday, September 3.
Police identified the victims as Rodel and Zoraida Bermudez from Barangay Patoc, Bucay, Abra.
The victims were inside their store when a black motorcycle stopped in front and the back rider alighted and shot them.
The suspects fled toward Bucay and the victims were taken to the hospital where Rodel was declared dead and Zoraida recovering.
The gunmen were caught in a checkpoint aboard a pickup truck owned by a local official of Manabo.
The official claimed he was with his child and his cousin on their way toward this capital town to purchase parts for his truck when he saw the suspects on the road.
He said the suspects hitched a ride with them as they were on their way to Bucay and did not suspect that they were involved in the killing.
Police recovered a caliber .45 and a caliber .22 pistols from the suspects.
The suspects were not identified pending follow-up investigation.
This was the latest shooting incident in this province.
On Sunday afternoon, farmer Hidalgo G. Villanueva, 41, was gunned down in Sitio Lugit, Patucannay, Tayum.
Hours earlier, former Dolores Sangunniang Bayan member Gregorio "Goyo" Castillo, 74, was wounded in a shooting incident in Sitio Curapo, Barangay Poblacion allegedly over a family land dispute.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/2/farmer-killed-ex-dad-wounded-in-abra-shootings
On Thursday night, August 29, former Barangay Banacao, Bangued Captain Marcelino Castillo Banayos, 58, and a construction worker, Janssen Benauro Blanes, 20, were also wounded in a shooting incident some 100 meters away from a police detachment in Sitio Ramramot, Barangay San Antonio, Bangued.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/30/ex-village-chair-nephew-wounded-in-abra-shooting
Banayos, reportedly allied with a political family in the province, remains in a coma while Blanes is still being treated in the hospital.
League of Municipalities (LMP) National Chairman and La Paz, Bangued Mayor Joseph Sto. Nino Bernos condemned the gun attacks.
He urged olice and other law enforcement agencies “to closely look into the matter and thwart any break out of violence in the province.”