LP mayoralty bet in Quezon province hurt in shooting

A mayoralty candidate in Pagbilao town in Quezon province was shot Monday evening by unidentified assailants in Lucena City, police said Tuesday. Pagbilao Vice Mayor Apolinar Martinez is currently undergoing medical treatment at the Mount Carmel hospital after suffering two gunshot wounds from a single bullet in his lower right abdomen, P03 Joanne Ramirez of the Lucena City police's public information office told GMANews.TV over the phone. Martinez, who is running for mayor under the Liberal Party, was shot 7:45 p.m. along the Maharlika Highway diversion road in Lucena City after he got out of the Toyota Revo he was driving to take a leak. The two unidentified assailants, who were aboard a motorcycle, quickly sped away after shooting the mayor. Even though he was wounded, Martinez was able to drive back to the Brgy. Gulang-Gulang police station in Lucena, and was brought to the hospital by responding police. Police are still investigating the case. The LP has earlier decried attacks on its candidates and supporters in the provinces. [See: Roxas asks CHR to probe killings of LP bets, supporters] Marciliano "Bong" Dizon, a coordinator for the Noynoy Aquino for President Movement in Mexico town in Pampanga, was shot dead by unidentified assailants last January 14. He was an active recruiter for the party. Killed in mid-January were Hadja Anira Abdulah Agcong, LP mayoral bet in Labangan town in Zamboanga del Sur, and Motalliden Pacman “Steve" Tapodoc, LP candidate for councilor in the same town. Tapodoc was shot seven times on January 17 by two motorcycle-riding gunmen near the Philippine Independent Church while Agcong was shot in front of her son January 16. — with Johanna Camille Sisante/RSJ, GMANews.TV