CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga”•The first election-related violence in Central Luzon occurred Wednesday after a barangay captain was shot dead by still-unidentified assailants riding in tandem in Barangay Mabalasbalas, San Rafael, Bulacan.
Police Supt. Fe Grenas, chief information office of the Police Regional Office III, identified the victim as Rodrigo Rodriguez, married and barangay captain of Mabalasbalas, San Rafael, Bulacan.
Rodriguez was running for reelection in the barangay elections on May 14.
The victim, who sustained several gunshot wounds to different parts of his body, died while undergoing treatment at a local hospital in San Rafael, Grenas said.
Police Chief Supt. Amador Corpus, regional director of Police Regional Office III, ordered the Bulacan police to conduct a thorough investigation, Grenas added.
Initial investigations showed the victim was buying rice in the front of a store in the village, when the suspects on board a motorcycle fired on the victim and escaped going toward Metro Manila.
The residents rushed the victims to a nearby hospital, but he died while under medical treatment, Grenas added.