Caloocan City exec, cop killed in ambush

The president of Caloocan City’s Association of Barangay Chairmen (ABC) and a police officer were killed in an ambush yesterday afternoon in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.

Region 3 regional director Chief Superintendent Vidal Querol, said that Rogelio Saraza, chairman of Barangay 72 in Caloocan City, and Inspector Domingo Villavicencio of the city police Special Action Force were killed after being attacked by at least six armed men.

Querol said that Saraza and Villavicencio were aboard a white Nissan Frontier (WHY 273) when they were waylaid by the suspects at a remote area near the border of San Jose del Monte and Sta. Maria, Bulacan at around 1 p.m.

The suspects were reportedly waiting for the victims’ vehicle to pass by then peppered it with bullets.

The gunmen fled aboard a waiting tricycle. Querol said that Saraza, who owned a farm in Sta. Maria, visited his property every Saturday.

Among the angles now being looked into by the police are politics, land dispute and the ongoing bickerings over a bus terminal at the Monumento area, which falls under the jurisdiction of Saraza.

Saraza, a known supporter of former mayor Reynaldo Malonzo, was reportedly having a quarrel with his fellow barangay chairmen who wanted to unseat him.

In an assembly last week at city hall among the city’s barangay chairmen, a heated argument reportedly occurred between Saraza and his colleagues who want him out of his post.

The president of the ABC represents barangays in the city council.

On the other hand, Querol said Saraza was also having a misunderstanding with other land owners of his neighboring farms.

The Caloocan City police in coordination with the Bulacan authorities are now conducting a deeper investigation into the ambuscade.