CRIME State U president gunned down outside CDO home

The president of a state-run university in Cagayan de Oro was gunned down by still unidentified armed men early yesterday morning, police said.

Police identified the victim as Ricardo Rotoras, 48, who was shot dead outside his home at Golden Glow North Subdivision in Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City at 1 a.m.

Rotoras is president of the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) at the time of his death.

Police said Rotoras succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds. He wastaken to the nearby JR Borja General Hospital by his driver, but was declared dead on arrival by attending physicians.

A witness told the police he saw people loitering near the Golden Glow North perimeter fence days before the shooting.

After the shooting, the witness said, he saw two men walking out of the subdivision and fleeing on board a black pick-up truck.

Recovered from the crime scene were empty shells fired from a weapon believed to be a .45 caliber pistol.

Rotoras, who served as the head of the USTP since 2006, was also the president of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (Pasuc) for four consecutive terms.

Elected unopposed for the fourth time, Rotoras was supposed to end his two-year term as PASUC head in 2019.

“His unopposed re-election bespeaks of his excellent leadership, hard work, selfless dedication and commitment towards leveling up the standards of education in the country,” reads an article posted on the USTP’s website, referring to his reelection as Pasuc president.

It was during his stint as USTP president that the institution saw two major transformations, first from being declared as Mindanao University of Science and Technology to its current status as the center of science and technology in Southern Philippines.