Slain village chief linked to rob gang

MANILA, Philippines — A barangay captain who was gunned down in Tondo, Manila last Friday owned a van used by a robbery group targeting foreigners leaving casinos in Metro Manila, a source said yesterday.

Investigators handling the murder of Barangay 161 chairman Alfredo Lansingan confirmed that while his name was not on the police drug watchlist, he was reportedly the handler of a robbery group busted last July 1 after the van’s driver was arrested and admitted to the scheme, according to a Manila Police District official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Lansingan was riding a motorcycle when two men on another motorcycle trailing him shot him near the corner of Solis and Dagupan streets at around 9:30 a.m.

The source said Jeremias Madarang, 44, a taxi driver arrested for robbing two Chinese last July 1, told police he usually looks for passengers near casinos and sets them up to be robbed by his accomplices, who would follow them in Lansingan’s van.