Talk to Duterte, Shimura tells Loot

Provincial Board Member Sun Shimura urged his stepfather, Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot, to talk to President Rodrigo Duterte.

He pointed out that the attack his stepfather survived on Sunday happened after Duterte’s announcement that another local official allegedly involved in illegal drugs could be assassinated.

In 2016, Duterte had tagged Loot, along with other local officials in Cebu, as protectors of illegal drug operators. Loot has denied this and no charge has been filed.

Shimura suspected that Loot’s attackers are the same ones who fired at businessman Wellington Lim’s vehicle.

“Pareha ra ang approach sa mga suspects. Mura sad og pareha ra ang suspects kay nagdala sila og long firearms (It’s the same approach and they also carried long firearms),” Shimura said.

Motorcycle-for-hire driver Danilo (not his real name) said he was waiting for passengers when two armed men stormed out of a white van, aiming their automatic rifles and shouting in Tagalog.

“Pagkakita nako nila, kuyawan ko. Pagmando nila ‘Dapa! Walang gumalaw!’ deretso kog hapa. Akong simod naa sa semento (I was scared. They told us to drop to the ground and not move),” he said.

Government employee Minda, 37, said she thought the armed men were police officers.

When she heard the gunshots, she ducked under a table at the port’s entrance. She called Loot on the phone, not knowing he was the target. Loot told her to call the police.

Minda’s motherly instincts surfaced yesterday, Mother’s Day. After seeing her son, 20, in a pump boat near the boat where the Loots were, she ran toward him.

“I was scared he could be hit,” she said. Her son jumped into the sea and was not hit.

Minda’s husband Ben, 45, said he heard at least 30 gunshots in five seconds. After the armed men fled, Ben ran toward the pump boat. He saw three wounded persons---Ruben Casteñada, Jerly Rossel, and Bernabe Ypsor.

He then saw Loot and realized the mayor was the target. Ben later found the wounded Arnel Rosario in the water. Two men helped him lift Rosario to the ground. Ben untied the pump boat and let the vessel float far from the port for seven minutes. He also blocked other vessels from docking.

“Nahadlok ko nga naay mga backup nga nagsakay og pump boat (I was worried there might be attackers on pump boats),” he said.

Ben and Minda hope that the crime will be solved.