Attempt on La Union exec’s life fuels tension in province
A BUREAU of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) employee has been accused of involvement with the attempted murder of an executive assistant of La Union Governor Francisco Emmanuel R. Ortega III, adding to the tense situation in the province following the discovery of a plot to assassinate a congresswoman and two town mayors.
In a police incident report filed with La Union Police Provincial Office in San Fernando on July 25, Justino F. Casuga, executive assistant of Governor Ortega, filed an attempted murder complaint against a prison guard assigned at the Quezon City Jail who was found roaming with a firearm near the complainant’s home.
Initial investigation showed Casuga previously reported that his life was under threat from an unidentified man roaming near his place and requested for temporary security from the PNP.
The police report said that on July 25 at 4 p.m., Casuga arrived at his home from a personal meeting and upon alighting from his vehicle was approached by the suspect who had a firearm but quickly turned back upon seeing the two PNP security aides.
The suspect was confronted and arrested by Casuga’s security personnel. The case is now under investigation.
Anti-crime group Crusaders for Peace said, in a statement, the case heightened the tense situation in the province and bolstered suspicion that a gun-for-hire group composed of rogue police and military personnel was hired to assassinate political leaders in La Union.
A former police colonel and alleged leader of the Magpali gun-for-hire group surrendered to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Camp Crame on July 26.
Dismissed police colonel Wilson Magpali turned himself to police officials after President Rodrigo Duterte earlier told PNP Ilocos Region to “get the head” of the Magpali gang which was reportedly hired by some unscrupulous politicians to harass or liquidate political figures ahead of the 2022 elections.
Duterte issued the order in response to the appeal of the people of La Union who disclosed an alleged assassination plot against a lawmaker and two mayors in the province. La Union police earlier uncovered the plot following the arrest of several members of the Magpali assassination squad over another killing incident.
Police confiscated from the suspects’ vehicle high-powered firearms, ammunition, bullet vests, two-way radios, cellphones, back packs and other items. Police also discovered that the group had other alleged safehouses in three towns of La Union.
The police is investigating if the same group was responsible for the 2018 slaying of Balaoan Vice Mayor Alfred Concepcion on November 14; Sudipen Mayor Alexander Buquing on October 1; and former Second District Rep. Franny Eriguel on May 12. Those killings remain unresolved to this day.
Rep. Sandra Eriguel, widow of Franny Eriguel, is now the primary target of the Magpali gang, according to the intelligence report.
Eriguel and the two other alleged targets of the gang are allies of Governor Ortega.
Crusaders for Peace said the discovery of the plot and the latest attempt on the life of Governor Ortega’s executive assistant are proof that a gun-for-hire group was trying to replicate the 2018 killings in La Union.
