MANILA, Philippines - Pasay City Mayor Antonino Calixto’s chief of staff was shot in his home in Barangay Aurora Tolentino Friday afternoon, a city police official said yesterday.
Superintendent Samuel Turla, deputy police chief, told The STAR that a lone attacker snuck into Albert Paredes’ house along Inocencio Street and shot him as he emerged from the bathroom at around 1:15 p.m. Friday.
The attacker then “fled to a waiting motorcycle driven by an accomplice,” Turla said.
According to initial reports, Paredes sustained a gunshot wound in the chest, just an inch away from his heart. “The victim is now declared out of danger,” Turla said.
Paredes told The STAR he has no idea who wanted him killed. He said he will leave the investigation of the case to the police.
His brother, Allan, said they have no idea who masterminded the attack and they “do not want to speculate.”
City public information chief Jojo de Paula said the attack was “a personal thing. Definitely, it’s not about politics nor related to the mayor.” De Paula refused to elaborate.
Desk officer Malou Tañada said Paredes was rushed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday by his driver, Mark Castillo. He was discharged at about 10:40 a.m. yesterday.
According to a close-in security officer of the victim, they were preparing for a Christmas party at Paredes’ house when he was sent to the city hall to get some documents.
“When I returned I saw my boss already wounded in the chest, I have no idea what happened,” he said. The security officer said they rushed Paredes to the hospital and later reported the incident to the police.
Mario Manzano, the hospital’s security chief, claimed the incident was reported to the police “five minutes” after Paredes was rushed to the hospital. However, there was no record of the incident in the city police investigation unit’s blotter book. The blotter showed that at least seven incidents were logged from 3:01 a.m. on page 19 to 9:40 p.m. on page 26 for Dec. 23.
The logbook’s page 24 was empty, marked with one word: “save.” The subsequent pages have been filled in with incident reports.
Early last year, Paredes suffered a minor hand injury when a casual employee ran amuck in the mayor’s office while Paredes was trying to settle a dispute between the employee, who leads a group of pedicab drivers, and officials of the city government’s Tricycle and Pedicab Regulation Office.
Paredes tried to pacify the employee, who hit him on the right hand with a metal clipboard. - By Perseus Echeminada and Aie Balagtas See
