Alleged narco-general survives strafing

DAANBANTAYAN, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot, who was tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as one of five narco-generals, survived a strafing incident on his family at a port in northern Cebu at past 7 a.m. Sunday, May 13.

His two drivers and the nanny of his grandchild were wounded.

Senior Inspector Irish Delim, Daanbantayan police chief, said the mayor and his family had just arrived from Malapascua Island when five men carrying high-powered firearms opened fire at a port in Barangay Maya, Daanbantayan, Cebu.

Delim said the mayor, a firmer police general, was unharmed because he was still in the pumpboat when they were attacked.

The armed men, who were on board a white van, were reportedly heard speaking in Tagalog. A witness was only able to record the the numerical portion of the license plate: 5884.

Denied allegations

Loot has denied allegations that he used to receive P100,000 monthly payola from self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.

During the Senate hearing on the killing of Espinosa’s father, Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa, the younger Espinosa alleged that he coursed the payola for Loot through Chief Inspector Leo Laraga.

Laraga, one of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group operatives who served the search warrant on the older Espinosa in November 2016, had admitted shooting the mayor after he allegedly resisted.