LAST SUNDAY’S ATTACK NOT STAGED: DAANBANTAYAN MAYOR LOOT

Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot laughed off allegations that he staged last Sunday’s attack against him and his family in Barangay Maya to gain public sympathy. Meanwhile, he said he expected the ambush not to last more than a minute. “The rule is 60 seconds while in shock pa ang tanan and then withdraw. Hadlok man pod sila basi’g naa’y security forces sa palibot,” he said. Loot is cooperating with authorities in their investigation. He said he was told that the National Bureau of Investigation will conduct a parallel probe. The former police chief superintendent said his family’s security is his primary concern, adding that their attackers were “indiscriminate” in firing their high-powered arms.

Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot said the attempt on his life last Sunday morning will not discourage him from continuing his career in public service nor keep him from seeking reelection in 2019.

The first-term mayor said he and his wife Maria Luisa, the town’s former mayor, will keep working to transform Daanbantayan to a city from a first-class town.

“The more I am challenged, the more nga molihok ko (I will take steps). Ipakita nako nga sayop sila sa ilang gihimo (I will show them what they did was wrong),” he said, adding that a lot of people need help and deserve reforms in Daanbantayan. “Naa mi’y ambisyon, naa mi’y taas nga panglantaw sa among lunsod (We have big dreams for our town).”

Motivation

“The more nga masakitan ka, the more ka nga mosukol (The more others try to hurt you, the more you should fight back).”

Loot said he slept well following the attack by armed men who opened fire at the pump boat carrying him, his family and household employees past 7 a.m. last Sunday in New Maya Port in the town’s northern tip.

Loot, his wife, stepson Provincial Board Member Sun Shimura, and five grandchildren were unharmed.

But his drivers Arnel Rosario and Ruben Castañeda were wounded. The nanny of his sixmonth-old grandchild Jerly Rossel and porter Bernabe Ypsor were also hit.

The mayor’s vote

Rossel was holding Loot’s grandchild during the attack, but the baby was not hit. Loot said the wounded were already treated.

“Pasalamat lang ko nga wala’y nangamatay (I am grateful that no one died),” he said.

Loot went to his precinct in Daanbantayan Central School in Barangay Poblacion past 1:50 p.m. Monday to vote. It took him two minutes to fill up his ballot.

He walked some 150 meters from his residence toward the polling center without a security escort.

“Walking distance ra, pila ray pagdagan (It’s a short distance. I can run if needed),” he quipped.

Loot stayed for more than 10 minutes inside the school grounds and talked to some of his constituents. Afterwards, he walked back home.

Three police officers were stationed at the gate of the central school.

For her part, Maria Luisa said the eldest of her grandchildren, who is seven years old, asked her why they were attacked.

“Nagsige og pangutana ang bata ngano kunong gipusil mi. Unsa man gyod kuno? Ngano man gyod kuno,” she said. “Wa gud ko katubag. Unya pagpanguli namo, mao gihapon iyang pangutana (She kept asking why we were attacked. I had no answer. When we got home, she kept asking the same questions).”

Ordeal

The former mayor said she promised to explain when her grandchild is older.

Her four grandchildren were brought to their doctors in Cebu City and were apparently traumatized by the incident.

“Sige sila’g hilak,” she said. “Maluoy ko sa akong mga apo, uy, sa hitabo. Ang ilang gibuhat sa amoa di gyod maayo sad, uy (They kept crying. I felt so sorry for them. What those people did to us was horrible).”

But Mayor Loot, who won by fewer than 10 votes in May 2016, said he will not stop being a public servant.

“Ako karon gipadayon ang nasugdan sa akong asawa. Naa gani siya problema nako nga sobra ko ka focused halos na man gani di ko mouli, wala na koy oras para sa ilaha (I am sustaining what my wife started. She has pointed out that I am so focused on my work that I hardly have time for the family),” he said. “But we want to leave behind a legacy that we, our family, changed Daanbantayan.”