YOUTH LEADER SHOT DEAD IN LAGUNA

The president of the youth council in Lumban town, Laguna province, was shot and killed by at least two gunmen who barged into his house in Barangay Maytalang 1 on Wednesday, police said.

Police Capt. Jose Mari Peña, Lumban police chief, said Renzo Matienzo, 26, president of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) federation in the town, was shot in front of his pregnant partner and their 3-year-old child in their bedroom at 5:30 p.m.

Investigators found 10 empty shells from a .45-caliber gun at the scene.

In a telephone interview on Thursday, Peña said investigators were looking at politics and personal grudge as likely motives in the attack. He said they could also not disregard illegal drugs as a possible reason behind the murder because the illicit narcotics trade was still happening in the town.

“We learned that the victim was planning to run as town councilor next year. Or maybe [he was killed because of a] personal grudge,” Peña said.

As SK federation chair in the town, Matienzo sat at the municipal council as an ex-officio member.

Peña said investigators sought Matienzo’s parents but they did not learn much from them about the activities of their son, whom they described as “too secretive.”