Councilman, a retired officer, shot dead after session

An unidentified gunman shot and killed newly-elected Kalunasan Barangay Councilor Roel Mabano outside the barangay hall yesterday afternoon, shortly after a session.

Mabano, 41, was a retired Police Officer 3 who was once a member of the defunct City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) before he was reportedly reassigned to Mindanao when President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016.

A closed-circuit television camera footage showed Mabano holding his cellphone outside the barangay hall past 2 p.m. A man who wore a hoodie approached him and started shooting.

Mabano tried to run but succumbed to five gunshot wounds from a caliber .45.

The gunman then fled using a getaway motorcycle another person was driving.

According to Senior Insp. Eduard Sanchez, chief of the Guadalupe Police Station, Mabano expressed his support for the police during their meetings. Mabano chaired the peace and order committee of Barangay Kalunasan.

Procopio, 70, Mabano’s father, said that his son availed himself of early retirement last year.

“Buotan kaayo na siya nga anak bisan kinsa pay inyong pangutan-on diri. Wa nay kontra dinhi (He was such a good son. Ask anyone here. He had no enemy),” he said.