Ex-Pasig congressman slain

Former Pasig congressman and mayoralty candidate Henry Lanot was shot dead by a lone gunman inside a restaurant in Pasig City at noon yesterday.

Police said Lanot was having lunch with former Caloocan City congressman Romeo Santos and several friends at the Jade Palace Restaurant on Shaw Boulevard when the assassin walked up and fired at the former lawmaker at close range.

Lanot, who served as the city’s representative for two consecutive terms until last year, succumbed to a gunshot wound in the head while being treated at the Rizal Medical Center, more than two hours after he was shot.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said several witnesses saw the gunman approach the table occupied by Lanot.

Witnesses claimed the assailant, armed with a silencer-equippped caliber .45 automatic, emerged from the restaurant’s toilet and approached Lanot at his table then shot him in the head.

Witnesses also told investigators that the gunman, dressed in a light-colored T-shirt and black pants, then casually walked away, leaving Lanot slumped on the table bleeding.

Police said Santos and several other customers and employees of the restaurant were in a state of shock and disbelief.

"We were busy eating and did not notice him (the assassin) come up to our table," Santos said.

Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela said investigators are still gathering eyewitness accounts from Santos and the restaurant employees.

Valenzuela said they are also trying to gather information on the possible motives behind the killing.

He said one of the most likely motives would be politics.

"This is one of the strongest angles we have," he said.

Valenzuela noted the gunman came from the comfort room of the restaurant, reminiscent of Mafia-style executions seen in movies like "The Godfather."

"It’s like he (gunman) had surveyed first the target before taking him (Lanot) down," he said.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao ordered the NCRPO to form a task force to investigate the murder of Lanot.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said Lomibao had ordered the task force to be composed of investigators from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the police Intelligence Group, the Crime Laboratory and the EPD.

On the other hand, Razon stressed they are looking at all possible angles behind the killing of the former Pasig lawmaker.

"We are still investigating the motive for the shooting," Razon said.

"I’ve ordered the Pasig City police to conduct a thorough probe of the incident and solve the case as soon as possible," he added.

Pasig City Rep. Robert Jaworski Jr., a close friend of Lanot’s, said there was "a great possibility that his assassination was politically motivated."

Jaworski, however, refused to elaborate on who stood to gain from the murder. He stressed the police should exhaust all possible angles to ferret out the killer.

House Majority Leader and Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles called for a speedy investigation and said Lanot’s slaying should not be added to the long list of unsolved crimes.

"There should be no excuses," Nograles said. "The PNP should arrest those responsible as soon as possible."

The Lanot family, on the other hand, are still in a state of shock.

Reporters who immediately went to the Lanot residence in Greenlands Subdivision in Barangay Pinagbuhatan were turned away as the family refused to comment on the slaying.

A family spokesman said they are still mulling their next move.

Lanot was proclaimed winner of the congressional race in Pasig City during the 2001 elections but in June last year, shortly before his term would have expired, Lanot was unseated by the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).

The HRET had ruled his rival, Noel Cariño, was the real winner of the election.

A heavy favorite, Lanot ran for mayor in the local elections in May 2004 but lost to incumbent Vicente Eusebio. He had filed an appeal with election officials, challenging Eusebio’s victory.

Eusebio, along with Vice Mayor Rosalio "Yoyong" Martirez and councilors Ory Rupisan and Fortunato "Atoy" Co, left early this month for the United States.

The mayor’s son and acting city mayor Councilor Roberto Eusebio expressed "shock" upon learning of Lanot’s murder, according to his staff members.

"He (the younger Eusebio) was shocked upon hearing the incident," a staff member told The STAR.

Lanot could have opted to run for a fresh mandate as Pasig congressman but he reportedly allowed his friend Jaworski to run as the city’s representative.

Lanot served as vice chairman of the House committees on civil, political and human rights; local government; appropriations; economic affairs; inter-parliamentary relations & diplomacy; justice; rules, and ways and means. He started his political career as councilor and served for six years.

He first ran and won in Pasig’s lone congressional district in 1998. — With Jess Diaz, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AFP