ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Visayas devider Murder raps filed vs village chief, 3 others in Silay City shooting

Murder raps filed vs village chief, 3 others in Silay City shooting

Gallego, Ledesma reelected

Published May 14, 2025 06:12 pm
BACOLOD CITY – Police have filed murder and frustrated murder complaints against a barangay captain and three others over a shooting incident where two people were killed and seven others were injured in Barangay Mambulac, Silay City, Negros Occidental on Election Day.
Police Lt. Col. Joem Malong, acting spokesperson of Police Regional Office-Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR), said that charges were filed during inquest proceedings against Barangay Lantad, Silay City Captain Arnie Benedicto and three John Does before the City Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, May 14.
Malong said that three complainants, the families of the two fatalities and one of the seven injured victims, pursued the filing of the case against the perpetrators.
She added that the six remaining injured victims are still confined in a hospital here.
Initially, police said that three suspects were linked to the incident. However, based on the ballistic examination of the recovered fired bullets from the crime scene, Malong said that the Silay police believe that a total of four perpetrators were involved.
Malong said that police have a lead on the identities of the three other suspects who are still at large. Authorities refused to divulge more details so as not to preempt the ongoing investigation.
She said that the victims, identified to be supporters of Mayor Joedith Gallego, were allegedly shot by the suspects on board a van reportedly driven by Benedicto. She said that witnesses saw the barangay official allegedly firing a shot before fleeing with his companions.
Malong said that Silay police consider the motive to be opposing political beliefs but it is unclear yet how it led to violence.
She said that the Regional Election Related Incident Board has yet to officially declare it as an election-related incident. In the meantime, authorities considered it as a suspected election-related case.
Malong said that Benedicto, who surrendered to authorities hours after the incident, is still under the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Negros Occidental here.
He has yet to release a statement regarding the allegations against him.
Violence did not stop the people of Silay from voting and asserting their democratic right to choose their leaders.
The City Board of Canvassers officially proclaimed reelectionists Gallego and Vice Mayor Thomas Ledesma as winners on Tuesday, May 13.
Gallego triumphed over former Mayor Mark Golez. This was the second time that Gallego defeated Golez in the mayoral race after the 2022 elections.
Ledesma bested Golez’s running mate, Councilor Ryan Gamboa.
Gallego thanked the people of Silay for their trust and support and dedicated his victory to the victims of the shooting. “This victory is for you, for Silay, and for our future.”
Ledesma also thanked the people who supported and gave him another chance to serve the city.
Gamboa conceded defeat on social media and expressed gratitude for two terms of service and reaffirmed his commitment to public service in other forms. “I chose to run for the right reasons and was not afraid to lose,” he said.
Elected councilors were Noynoy Penuela, Darryl Hinolan, Enzo Locsin, Mike Maravilla, Toti Lopez, Mykol Velez, Romela Amoroso, Paolo Tiongco, Lyndon Bernardo, and James Golez.
Despite the violence, the PRO-NIR said the election in the region was generally peaceful.
Police labeled the shooting as an isolated case now under investigation. A Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) has been created to lead the probe.

Related Tags

Silay City Negros Occidental Shooting Deaths Murder Mayor Joedith Gallego
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.