Batangas councilor slain in gun attack

BATANGAS, Philippines – A councilor in Tanauan, Batangas died while his aide was wounded in a gun attack on Friday night.

Epimaco Magpantay, 64, a resident of Barangay Pantay Matanda, was meeting with tricycle operators and drivers in Barangay Darasa around 7 p.m. when the gunman appeared from behind and shot  him repeatedly.

Magpantay died while being treated at the Daniel Mercado Medical Center, said Superintendent Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson for the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) police.

Magpantay’s driver and bodyguard Joel Garcia was hit in the legs, but declared out of danger in the same hospital.

Witnesses said the gunman, who was wearing a black jacket, denim jeans and a white helmet, fled on a motorcycle driven by his companion toward Malvar town.

Six bullet shells for a gun of  still unknown caliber were recovered at the scene.

Gaoiran said probers are eyeing politics as the motive for the attack.

Magpantay was running for reelection under the Liberal Party.